The Captain's Surprise

"We call it the 'Captain's Surprise' because if we told you it was an organ museum, nobody would come." says William.

Stichting Stadsorgel Haarlem "Het Kunkelsorgel" or roughly translated "City Organ Haarlem Foundation, the Kunkel's Organ" is an organization dedicated to the preservation of dance organs.  These organs range in size from small portable hand-pushed and -cranked machines (think of the organ grinder and his monkey) to larger portables on   trailers (these can be hand cranked or motor-driven ), on up to the massive semi-fixed organs like the original Kunkel's organ with it's 112 keys and 14 registers.

Commonly called "barrel organs", these instruments were used in dance halls, street fairs, and other public gatherings (we saw one in operation on the streets of Leiden) as an alternative to bands.  The organ is operated by a crank that both pumps the bellows to power the organ and sets the tempo.  A punched paper strip, similar to a player piano roll (though the barrel organ's paper is more like cardboard and folds up into a book form) controls the playing.  As each organ is different, the repertoire of each instrument is limited to a specific number of tunes.  Songs ranged from classics like "Roll Out the Barrel" and "This Land is Your Land" to the theme from Titanic.

Centerpiece of the foundation is the Kunkel's organ.  Originally built in 1909 and renovated by the Kunkel family in the 1930's, the organ was used at fairs in a dance tent operated by the Kunkels.  During WWII, the organ was badly damaged when stored in a field.  In 1959, a group of organ enthusiasts formed the Foundation to restore the Kunkel's organ (a 10 year effort) and in 1969, they secured their current building, an old factory.

Most of the organs are very ornate and feature colorful carvings.  In addition to the standard air-powered pipes, most of the organs feature some type of drums or other rhythm instruments. 

Today, the Foundation owns 5 organs that have been restored, and houses an additional 5 others.  Concerts are held every Sunday afternoon and groups can be accommodated at other times by special request.

The Legendary Coen Alta

The oldest surviving founding member of the Foundation, Coen Alta still plays a small barrel organ on the streets of Haarlem.  According to the foundation members, Alta is a legend in the Dutch pantheon of barrel organ artists.  We purchased a copy of his CD (I think it's called "The Best of Coen Alta") and got his autograph.  Alta demonstrated his playing techniques on a couple of the instruments and helped us get into the cranking groove...

After a brief presentation about the history of the organs and the Foundation by its President, we were treated to a concert, with tunes from each of the organs, and some of us had a chance to try our hand at cranking out a tune or two...

Or just visiting with other tourists...   or the President of the foundation

But Valbjørg and Oskar use the music as it was meant - to dance!