From warehouse to museum by Sietze de Vries

Articles

Sietze de Vries From warehouse to museum
Het ORGEL 113 (2017), nr. 2, 20-25 [summary]

The Nationaal Orgelmuseum in Elburg celebrates its 40th birthday this year. Maarten Seijbel founded the organ museum in 1977 and kept on collecting energetically through the years. The museum has gotten more and more material through gifts, many of them in natura. A colorful and growing collection was the result. The building that originally housed the museum was quite crowded: it was filled to the rafters with organ parts, harmoniums, miniature organs, posters, photos, maps, LPs, newspaper clippings, organ books. It felt like a warehouse.
In 2014 the museum moved to the “Arent thoe Boecop” house. Financial prospects improved thanks to the merger of the Stichting (foundation) Nationaal Historisch Orgelmuseum and “Het Gelders Huisorgel”. Eelco Elzenga, ex-conservator of Paleis het Loo, was a board member of the stichting “Het Gelders Huisorgel”, and brought the needed expertise and professional vision to Elburg.
The organ consultant Cees van der Poel was involved in the arrangement of the new quarters: with Rogér van Dijk he wrote a large part of the texts for the exhibition and was the consultant for the creation of the “Maarten Seijbel organ” and the placement of the Boon/Leeflang organ.
The article gives an impression of the various rooms and discusses among other subjects the “Maarten Seijbel organ” and the Gert Boon organ.

Photos: Jan Smelik

Positif Balkonzaal

Burgemeesterskamer (Chamber of the major)

Cellar

Boon -organ

Boon-organ