Reichel Handel Organ in Halle

Reichel Handel Organ in Halle

The Marktkirche has two organs. The older, on the east side, is the small Reichel-Orgel from 1664. Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) was baptized in this church and received his first organ lessons on this organ long before he found fame in London as George Frederic Handel

The Reichel organ has only six stops (registers) and is played via a single manual. It is tuned to the cornet tone, which makes it great for reproducing the sound known to 17th-century composers but unable to play together with other modern instruments.

The huge mannerist painting (1593) behind the organ is by the Leipzig artist Heinrich Lichtenfelser. It shows events from the lives of the apostles.