Editing Arp Schnitger (section)

==Biography==
Schnitger was born near [[Brake (Unterweser)|Schmalenfleth]] in [[Oldenburg (city)|Oldenburg]], [[Germany]], and was baptized on 9 July 1648 in [[Brake (Unterweser)|Golzwarden]].  The exact date of Schnitger's birth is unknown; the scholar [[Gustav Fock]] hypothesises it was on 2 July 1648, a week before his baptism. Schnitger was born into a family of woodworkers and wood carvers. He was apprenticed at the age of 18. Between 1666 and 1671, Schnitger studied organ building with his cousin [[Berendt Huss]] ({{circa}} 1630-1676) in [[Glückstadt]] and worked as a journeyman.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz114655.html#indexcontent|title= Huß, Berendt|publisher= Deutsche Biographie |access-date= May 1, 2017}}</ref>
In 1682, Schnitger and his workshop moved to [[Hamburg]]. In 1708, he was appointed organ builder of the Prussian court. In 1684, Schnitger was married to Gertrude Otte (1665-1707). His sons Franz Caspar and Johann Jürgen Schnitger trained with their father and continued his work after his death. His burial was recorded in the parish of St. Pancratiuskirche at Neuenfelde-Hamburg on 28 July 1719.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.kulturportalweserems.de/index.php/oldkulterb/618-oldbkullebenglauben/42-arp-schnitger-ein-orgelbauer-aus-der-wesermarsch-erlangt-weltruhm |title=Arp Schnitger|publisher=  Kulturportal Nordwest|access-date= 1 May 2017}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.pleasuresofthepipes.info/Neuenfelde-StPankratiusKirche.html|title= St. Pankratius (Neuenfelde)|publisher= pleasuresofthepipes.info |access-date= 1 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arpschnitger.nl/schnit.html|title=More than 350 years Arp Schnitger (1648-1719)|publisher=arpschnitger.nl|access-date= 1 May 2017}}</ref>

Schnitger was one of the most prolific builders of his time, having built approximately 95 new instruments, rebuilt about 30, and repaired or renovated another 30.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Arp Schnitger und seine Schule; ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Orgelbaues im Nord- und Ostseeküstengebiet.|last=Fock|first=Gustav|publisher=Bärenreiter|year=1974|isbn=3761802617|location=Kassel|pages=272–77|oclc=1043813}}</ref> He ran several shops and had a team in [[Magdeburg]], in [[Bremen]] and in [[Groningen]]. His organ designs typify the essential North German organ: multiple divisions, usually with a ''rückpositif'' (division on the gallery rail, behind the player's back); large, independent pedal divisions, often placed in towers on either side of the main case; well-developed principal choruses in each division with abundant reeds, flutes, and mutation stops; and [[meantone temperament]]. All of these features could be found on North German organs prior to Schnitger's activity; Schnitger's genius lay in his ability to synthesize these elements into a prototypical style of organ building, and in his prolific output. The latter was made possible by his good business sense: Schnitger was one of the first builders to use cost-cutting measures on a large scale to ensure the affordability of organs for small village churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=   http://www.hauptwerk.nl/historyeenumen.php|title=  Short biography of Arp Schnitger|publisher=  hauptwerk.nl|access-date= 1 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=   http://www.arpschnitger.nl/schnintro.html|title=  Introduction to Arp Schnitger|publisher=  arpschnitger.nl|access-date= 1 May 2017}}</ref>

One of Schnitger's landmark instruments, the organ at St. Jacobikirche, Hamburg, was a renovation and enlargement of an instrument previously rebuilt in 1636 by [[Gottfried Fritzsche]] (1578–1638).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hamburg's role in northern European organ building|last=Fock|first=Gustav|date=1997|publisher=Westfield Center|others=Lynn Edwards, Edward C. Pepe, and Harald Vogel|isbn=0961675535|location=Easthampton, Mass.|pages=66–67|oclc=53879976}}</ref>