Organs of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg diocese database

Organs of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg diocese article:

preface introduction the article bibliography contents app endix

In December of 1999, as every year, I visited my parents in Poland. My father, who has always tons of ideas, came up with a project for me to do over the summer. It sounded really interesting. I immediately went to a local government institution, which represents Historical Monuments Documentation Center in Warsaw. A few days later I received a formal letter allowing me to do the work (Appendix 1). I also asked the Bishop of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg diocese for his permission (Appendix 2).

I started preparing for work. In April I bought a digital camera, and in May I made a strong halogen light out of a used smoke-detector battery, car reflector and a metal box. In June I visited a local parson, who allowed me to examine Schematyzm Diecezji Koszalińsko-Kołobrzeskiej, 1998, which is an index of churches, parishes, etc.

Next I went again to the office representing Historical Monuments Documentation Center, and I asked them for copies of archives about all organs in the diocese.

The plan was to visit a large number of churches, to get to know important people, to learn some history of this area, to find out the condition of the existing instruments, and finally to update (for my own use) the information that the Historical Monuments Documentation Center gave me.

I started to sort the materials. I found the total number of organs in the diocese to be about 120 instruments. The majority of organs were built in the nineteenth century. There were eight instruments that had a baroque case (organ cases - appendix 3), but there were no true-baroque instruments. The data in the documentation I received is dated from1983 to 1996. The archive does not include recently built instruments, nor many repairs, nor changes that were done to the old instruments in recent years.

I decided to visit about 30 instruments, but I chose 41, since I was sure that some of them would not be easy to access. I chose seven that had a baroque case; I chose over 20 nineteenth century organs. The rest – I selected from the twentieth century. I also choose two organs that were not documented at all (Marian Dorawa collected most of the data in the archive. The two churches that he did not visit were in Białogórzyno and Stary Jarosław). I translated 39 documents from the archives, and I put them in form of an interactive database. I added the missing two later.

On the 5th of June I was ready to start. My father offered me his help with the work. After asking the priest for permission we arrived in Świelino about eleven a.m. It was a 'beta' trip: I had to figure out what will I need. It turned out I need work clothes that I can put on my regular clothes; I need a detailed map of the region; I need some water and a cloth to clean my hands, also a brush, pliers, and extra batteries for the camera and of course the document with Bishop's permission (which I forgot to take with me, of course).

The database assigns each organ, and all information associated with it, to a 'record'. The order of records in the database can be sorted by various parameters. For example: I can sort out all instruments of any builder that have opus number greater than 400. The database in such form is far more useful than the pages of paper I received.

From now I started planning one-day trips. Each time I tried to visit at least two churches. I called each parish a day before I visited it. Sometimes, in some little filial churches, I had to make an unarranged visit on Sunday, usually right after the mass. That was quite often the only way to visit the church, and find someone to open the organ for me.

Today, when my work is finished, I would like to thank all the people that helped me. I would like to thank my mother and my father for everything, Mr. Wacław Kubicki for his support, Mr. Bogdan Narloch for the literature he lent me, Dr. Jesse Eschbach for encouragement, his Excellency the Bishop Gołębiewski, all the priests and parsons, and Wojewódzki Oddział Służby Ochrony Zabytków w Szczecinie Delegatura w Koszalinie for allowing me to use their archives, and all others that helped me.