With more than 90 important organs from six centuries, the Organ landscape East Frisia is one of the richest organ landscapes in the world.
In addition, there are 15 historical Prospekt, behind which new Werke are installed. East Frisian organ building in the 19th century was conservative until around and created instruments according to Baroque building principles. As relatively few new organs were built between and , many historical instruments were preserved.
Almost all of the original instruments have been restored in an exemplary manner over the last 50 years, bringing them back to their original sound and providing impetus for restoration practice and organ building worldwide. When the organ became the main instrument in the Christian liturgy during the Gothic period, organs found their way into many churches. A flourishing organ culture is documented in East Frisia as early as the late Gothic period, which was mainly influenced by the Netherlands , where a center of Northern European organ building was located in the 15th to 17th centuries.
One of these first organs was the work of Master Thidricus de Dominis, which the Marienkirche in Marienhafe received in In , Master Hinrick built an organ for Emden. Around , many East Frisian monasteries and churches already had an organ. The pipes were usually made of hammered lead and the labia have the characteristic Gothic pointed arches.
As a rule, the instruments were fitted with richly painted double doors until the 17th century. One of the world's oldest organs, still preserved in its basic state and playable to this day, can be found in Rysum.
