Organ

The story of the new organ

The Ostrava cathedral is the second largest church in Moravia. Until now, services and concerts have been accompanied by an instrument brought from Germany in the 1990s, whose sound is not sufficient for the monumental space. That organ will continue to serve in a smaller church.

The new cathedral organ has an unusual history. It was built in 1981 for the Congress Hall of the Palace of Culture in Prague, at that time with 87 stops and with top-quality parts from abroad. Organologists regard it as the finest instrument built in Czechoslovakia at that time. After 1989 it was taken over by the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava for the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava. When the orchestra began preparing a new concert hall, it sold the instrument to the Moravská Ostrava parish.

The instrument

• Organ builders: Dlabal & Mettler workshop, Bílsko u Litovle
• Size: more than 70 speaking stops and approximately 5,800 pipes
• Longest pipe: almost eight metres, one of the longest in the Czech Republic
• Organ case: a neo-Renaissance case designed by the Viennese architect Max von Ferstel, partly preserved and largely reconstructed

Blessing of the organ

The Organ for Ostrava will be solemnly blessed on 22 November 2026 at 10:30 during Mass in the Cathedral of the Divine Saviour. It will be blessed by Bishop Martin David of Ostrava-Opava; the service will be broadcast live by TV NOE.

At 15:00 it is followed by the inaugural concert performed by Martin Sturm (Germany). Admission to the concert is CZK 500. Further concerts follow on the Sundays of Advent. Details and tickets

Who is behind the project

The Organ for Ostrava project is run by the Roman Catholic parish of Moravská Ostrava as a public fundraising campaign. The total budget exceeds CZK 30 million; as of mid-October 2026, about CZK 2 million was still needed to complete it. The construction has been supported, among others, by the City of Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian Region.

The ECHO katedrály association builds on the project with a concert series that presents the new organ to the public.

How to support the organ

You can contribute directly to the construction of the organ through the Organ for Ostrava public fundraising campaign, account 1388059555/2700, or by adopting an organ pipe. Details can be found at varhanyproostravu.cz (in Czech).

You can support the concerts and other activities of ECHO katedrály on the Support us page.

Source of information about the project: varhanyproostravu.cz.