150 Years of Schantz Organs

This year, the Schantz Organ Company celebrates its 150^th anniversary. Since their 1873 founding, five generations of Schantz family members have led the team. More than 3,000 pipe organs have been built and installed across the United States as well as Australia. They have been installed in churches of every denomination, as well as concert halls, hospital chapels, Masonic Temples, sanitoriums, synagogues, orphanages, residences, and even a penitentiary chapel. 

Abraham John Tschantz (1849-1921) started his company in 1873 to build “Ohio Beauty” reed organs. An unknown number of these small instruments were built, starting on the family farm near Kidron and moving quickly to a shop in Orrville. Seven reed organs are known today. In 1899 the family name was officially changed to “Schantz” to ease pronunciation as the business was growing. 

After assisting with the installation of a pipe organ in 1872, Abraham decided to grow his company to build pipe organs. The oldest remaining Schantz pipe organ is an all-mechanical instrument built in 1904 for Second United Church of Christ in Tiffin, Ohio. But with the rise of the use of electricity, Schantz began building instruments that used electricity to send air into the pipes. 

In addition to building their own instruments, Schantz has also successfully restored historic chest actions and pipes from many builders throughout the country. Major restorations include the large 1929 instrument at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio which was restored in 2000. And in the summer of 2022, Schantz restored the 1963 Aeolian-Skinner located at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

On Saturday, April 29, the Schantz factory will be open to the public for free tours from 10am – 3pm. Visitors will be able to see how organ pipes are made and tuned, what an organ blower looks like, how the mechanism causes the pipes to play, and watch a CNC machine making organ parts. Guests will have an opportunity to take home free souvenirs. Several food trucks will be onsite for lunch – including Lerch’s donuts. The address of the shop is 626 S. Walnut Street, Orrville, Ohio.

For more information about the history of Schantz and to see pictures, visit the Schantz Facebook page.