This article features the 2019 stamp of the baroque organ of Olkusz, Poland in the Basilica Minor of St. Andrew the Apostle. The stamp is from a multi-year series of stamps made between 2015 and 2019 honoring great organs in Poland. All of these stamps are jaw-droppingly gorgeous. For example, check out another article about the stamp of the organ in the Dome of Torun. I have a beautiful souvenir sheet that places the organ within a very colorful background showing the stunning ceiling of the cathedral that houses the organ.
Organ stamps are pretty common. Indeed, these instruments are large and expensive and as such are typically the pride of a local congregation, city, region, or even country. In addition, organs can be in use for hundreds of years, making them symbols of a local place. You can learn more about organ stamps here. Also, check out articles about organ stamps from France, Germany, the Philippines, and Mexico, among others.
The Basilica Minor of St. Andrew the Apostle
The oldest part of the church of St. Andrew in Olkusz is the late romanesque style chancel from the thirteenth century. About a century later, a Gothic expansion included the erection of three aisles supported by large octagonal pillars. It was a simple rectangular structure with the chancel to the east.
Then, the early fifteenth-century saw the addition of a sacristy and treasury to the north. Also, a three-bay chapel of St. Anne was built on the south of the church. Outside, large flying buttresses reinforced the growing building. Steep gabled roofs were added, finished with stepped brick pinnacles. On the inside walls, parts of gothic polychromy wall paintings survive from 1370-80. The beautiful and important fifteenth century altar is by the guild painters Jan the Great and Stanisław the Old.
Later additions to the building include an eighteenth century chapel honoring St. John Kanty and an early twentieth-century freestanding belfry.
The Organ
The church also boasts an extraordinary organ with history dating back to the early seventeenth century. In 1611, Hans Hummel, an organ builder from Kraków and the city authorities of Olkusz entered a contract for an organ for the church. However, within a couple of years, the church was making changes, demanding a larger instrument. Apparently, according to surviving documents, the city kept increasing the size of the organ in order to make sure it was one of the largest anywhere in Poland.
However, as Hummel kept expanding the size of the organ in Olkusz, other churches working with him also grew their projects. Evidently, Hummel had way too much work and it only kept growing. He kept pushing off the date of finishing the organ in Olkusz. Finally, King Zygmunt III of Poland stepped in to accuse him of misappropriating funds. Hummel was ordered to appear in court. Hummel (likely) killed himself in 1630 leaving the organ in Olkusz and other projects unfinished.
One of Hummel’s students, Jerzy Nitrowski, was able to finish the instrument in 1631 and make some further corrections in 1633. The organ was able to survive for nearly two hundred years with little change. However, damage to the church building itself in the early nineteenth century began a long, slow deterioration of the organ. Registers were removed and bellows taken out. By 1967, the organ was in such bad condition that the church was considering removing it entirely.
Restoration
However, the city and many individuals took up the cause of saving the organ. A restoration project began in 1972. For twenty years, studies into every aspect of the instrument and comparison with other similar organs in Europe took place. Yet, there were not the funds to actually undertake a restoration. It was only 2015, thanks to the Herman-Reemtsma Stiftung foundation in Hamburg, that work began. In 2018, the organ, as close as possible to its original form, was finally done.
The Stamp
Scott Number: PL 4454
The full-color stamp featuring the organ of Olkusz comes in a beautiful souvenir sheet. The sheet shows just a little more of the surrounding interior of the church. The value of the stamp is 6.6 Polist Złotyand it became available to the public on October 4th, 2019. The design for the stamp is by Marzanna Dabrowska.
The organ now sounds incredible! You can find many recordings of it. Make sure to check some out, here is a video that shows a lot of the organ case.
