Music or Munitions? The Danger Faced by Dutch Organs in the Second World War

From 1 October 1939 to 1 October 1946, the National Inspectorate for Art Protection, led by Jan Kalf (1873–1954), coordinated the safeguarding of monuments, museums, archives, and libraries against the dangers of war. In 2024, the book Art Bunkers and Cultural Caravans was published on this topic, which contains the following sentence: “Church councils and other institutions that received a notification in September 1939 regarding the exemption of their organs from metal requisition must display this notification prominently.” The requisition of church bells during the Second World War is widely known-but were our monumental and historic organs also truly at risk? This article investigates that question.