The St. Thomas Church is one of the earliest places in Europe, with documented organ music during church services. “Organ songs” were mentioned for a Maria Mass in 1384 and in 1392 for the Corpus Christi Mass, indications of a very early fostering of music from the St. Thomas founders of 1212.

The organs of Bach’s time do not exist anymore. The organ, which can be seen on the west choir loft, was built by Wilhelm Sauer in 1889. Originally, this Romantic period instrument had 63 organ stops. In 1908, more stops were added to give a total of 88 stops. The Sauer Organ was restored and brought back to its original eminence in 2005. Specifications for this organ can be downloaded from here.