The Kotzschmar Memorial Organ

Text by Janice Parkinson-Tucker
Archivist, Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ

Images from Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ, Maine Historical Society, Portland Public Library Special Collections, and First Parish Church, Unitarian Universalist, Portland.

In 2002 the city of Portland celebrated the 90th anniversary of its Kotzschmar Memorial Organ, one of only two remaining municipal organs in America. The instrument, composed of about 6,620 pipes and a new five manual (keyboard) console, is the 323rd organ built by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut.

The organ was donated to the city by Portland native and publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis. It was dedicated to the memory of Hermann Kotzschmar, the major figure in Portland's musical development during the second half of the 19th century.

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