Beckerath organ in the Great Hall

The organ in the Great Hall of the University of Music and Performing Arts is our "old lady". An unusual instrument that has outlasted many generations of students and their teachers.

It was built in 1959 by Rudolf von Beckerath, one of the great organ builders of the 20th century. With a sound and technology strongly influenced by the organ movement, today it also has a modern setting system and is used in lessons and many lecture evenings for the interpretation of organ music from all eras, from Frescobaldi to Franck, Lübeck to Ligeti and Muffat to Messiaen.

The Great Hall itself, with its special atmosphere, is an important monument to Frankfurt's musical history. It was built in 1929/30 as a broadcasting hall for the early radio station and is associated with names such as Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schönberg, Béla Bartók and Kurt Weill. One of the three so-called "radio organs" once stood here alongside Munich and Berlin.