This is a list and brief description of notable pipe organs in the world, with links to corresponding articles about them.
There are many methodologies for comparison of organs according to their size. One of the most encompassing methodologies was described by Michał Szostak.[4]
| Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ | Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, New Jersey | Midmer-Losh Organ Company, 1929–32 |
| The largest pipe organ ever built, based on number of pipes. It weighs approximately 150 tons. Most of the organ has not functioned since 1944; a partial restoration in 1998 was largely reversed by construction damage during a renovation of the Boardwalk Hall shortly afterwards. A full restoration is currently underway to return the organ to playing order in a $16 million effort that, as of 2023, has not been completed. The Historic Organ Restoration Committee reports that as of 2023, 95% of the Ballroom Organ is operational, and 67% of the Main Auditorium organ is operational.[5] Restoration work is ongoing to the extent that public concerts have resumed.[6]
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| Wanamaker Grand Court Organ | Wanamaker's (Now Macy's Center City), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| The largest pipe organ in the world, based on number of ranks and physical mass weight. It ranks second in the world based on number of pipes.[9] It is the largest fully operational musical instrument in the world, with the weight of 287 tons. This concert organ was initially constructed for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis; it was designed by George Ashdown Audsley. The organ was purchased by John Wanamaker for his palatial Philadelphia store; disassembled, the organ filled 13 rail cars. Uniquely, the Wanamaker Organ had from the beginning full-time organ fabricators and technicians, a true "organ shop", building it to luxurious standards of quality.[10] It is played twice a day, six days a week, and there are many recordings of this organ.[11]
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| St Stephen´s Cathedral Organ | St. Stephen's Cathedral Passau, GermanyEisenbarth, 1978–81 |
| With its 17,974 pipes and 233 registers, the organ in Passau’s cathedral is considered to be the largest Catholic church organ in the world and the largest organ in Europe. It ranks at the fifth place with its number of pipes.[12] | |||
| Auditorio Nacional (National Auditorium) | Mexico City | Pontificia Fabbrica d'Organi Cav. Giovanni Tamburini CREMA - ITALIA |
| The largest concert hall organ in the Western hemisphere and world's 6th largest concert hall organ (2nd and 7th respectively, if the Midmer-Losh in Boardwalk Hall is included).[13] | ||
| Newberry Memorial Organ | Woolsey Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut | E. M. Skinner |
| The largest fully operational concert hall organ in the US. It is the third largest fully operational concert hall organ in the world, behind Auditorio Nacional and the Sydney Opera House organ.[14] | ||
| Barry Norris Residence | Birmingham, Alabama |
| The world's largest house organ. It can be played from the console in the living room. | |||
| Curtis Organ | Irvine Auditorium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Austin Organ Company, Op. 1416, 1926 |
| This organ was built for the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia. At the time of its installation it was the fourth largest organ in the world. The presence of the Wanamaker Organ ranked it as the second largest pipe organ in Philadelphia. For many years it was ranked as 11th largest by pipe count, but recent combining of instruments under single console control have placed it in the top 25 largest in the world by ranks or pipe count. | ||
| Sydney Opera House Grand Organ | Sydney Opera House, Sydney |
| The largest organ with mechanical key action.[15] | |||
| National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts Organ | Fengshan District, Kaohsiung | Johannes Klais Orgelbau |
| This is the largest organ in Asia.[16] | ||
| Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ | Sydney |
| This organ was for many years after its inception the largest in the world, and was the largest built in the nineteenth century.[17] [18] [19] It remains the world's largest organ without any electric action components and is one of only two organs with a full-length 64 ft stop (the Contra-Trombone in the pedal) (click here for a sound sample).[20] (The other being the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ.) | |||
| Urthaburu Philharmonie Pipe Organ | France | Saint jean de luz | Rieger Orgelbau |
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| Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ | Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia | Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Op. 76 |
| The largest mechanical-action concert hall organ in the US.[21] The largest pipes are made of wood and are about two feet square and 32 feet tall. The smallest pipes are the size of a slender drinking straw. Several of the larger metal pipes are placed in the organ's case to form a visual display, or façade. They are made from an alloy of highly polished tin. These pipes are arranged in a broadly curving arc, and lean outward at a four-degree angle, thereby coinciding with the architecture of the Hall's balconies. This is the first instrument ever constructed with pipes of this size mounted in this manner.[22] | ||
| Kotzschmar Memorial Organ | Portland, Maine | Austin Organ Company, 1912 |
| This was the second-largest organ in the world when it was built, and is one of only two surviving "municipal organs" in the US.—the other being the Spreckels Organ in San Diego, California. Both organs were built by the same company.[23] | ||
| Budapest Palace of Art Pipe Organ | Hungary | Budapest | Mühleisen, ? |
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| Davis Concert Organ | Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Alberta | Orgues Létourneau of Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec |
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| Visser-Rowland Organ | Performing Arts Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas |
| Passau Cathedral Organ, Passau, Germany |
| The world's third largest church organ, is the largest organ in Europe. It is also the largest cathedral organ in the world. All the pipes of the organ can currently be played with the gallery console.[24] | |||
| Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral) | Various |
| The organs in this cathedrals history begins in 1395 (the builder was Martino de' Stremidi), and the organs were repeatedly remodelled during subsequent centuries by major Italian builders including Valvassori, Antegnati, Serassi, Tamburini, and Mascioni, as well as some non-Italians such as Bernard d'Allemagna. The golden decoration dates from the 16th century. In 1984 the pipes were reorganised into four cases (north and south), with two console. Actually is the biggest organ in Italy and the second in Europe. | ||
| Nidaros Cathedral |
| Originally commissioned for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Stiklestad. The organ was soon deemed too big for the cathedral, and as such moved and reduced in size several times through its history. It was in a sorry state for years before a full restoration brought it back to its former glory in 2014. The casing and façade was completely rebuilt to seamlessly fit the western portion of the cathedral, and the organ got a brand new console incorporating modern digital technology. However, the new console has been modeled after the original 1930 console layout, and as many as possible of the old pipes were preserved. New pipes were only made where the original pipes had been lost.[27] In 2015 the new Choir Organ was linked together with the Steinmeyer Organ, giving the possibility of playing the combined 159 stops from the same console. However, despite these possibilities, the choir organ still retain its own console for independent use, and the cathedral administration promotes the two organs as independent and separate instruments.[28] | |||
| Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (Rotterdam) |
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| Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń | Zych - Zakłady Organowe, 2002-07[29] |
| This organ console is the largest in Poland. The organ has 5 Sections on 5 emporas: 81 stops Symphonic Organ, 52 stops Baroque Organ, 8 stops Spanish Organ, 8 stops Italian Positive Organ, 8 stops Baroque Positive Organ. | ||
| Youn Dong Presbyterian Church, Seoul |
| This is the largest church organ in Asia. It is the first organ built in Korea by Koreans in the first organ factory. The action is Electro-Pneumatic with Pitman stop action. It is sectioned into 5 Divisions. | |||
| Liverpool Cathedral Grand Organ | Henry Willis & Sons |
| The builder also built the Royal Albert Hall Organ, the largest concert hall organ in the United Kingdom. | ||
| Cadet Chapel, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York | M. P. Möller, 1911 |
| The organ is the largest all-pipe organ, in a religious structure, in the world. The console has 874 switches for activating the stops, and the action is electro-pneumatic. The instrument is estimated to weigh over 124 tons, and is organized in 23 divisions.[32] It is continually being enlarged. This organ is played for over 300 services each year. In the history of the Cadet Chapel there have only been four organists. There are public tours of the post and services are open to the public. The Association of Graduates sponsors a concert series free and open to the public.[33] |
The Moller Consoles were installed during renovations in the early 1990s, replacing the original duplicate Schlicker consoles of 1969 which had become outdated and could no longer fully control the many new additions. The Chancel console, installed in 1992, is known to be one of the last works from the Moller firm, which closed its doors that same year.[35] Its twin, the Gallery console, was completed by former Moller craftsmen at the Hagertown Organ Company. The Moller Consoles are the largest draw-knob consoles ever built in the Western Hemisphere.