Not envisaged in the original designs, the organ's construction was only approved after the architects had already completed plans for the building. And yet with its seven towers, it blends harmoniously into the concert hall and forms a striking counterpoint to the spiral staircase opposite.
Cologne's grand concert organ was built by the distinguished organ-maker » Johannes Klais and continues a long line of Klais concert organs installed throughout the world: for example, in the Munich Kulturzentrum Gasteig, in the Philharmonic in Cracow, in the Symphony Hall in Kyoto and the Twin Towers Petronas Philharmonic Hall in Kuala Lumpur.
The configuration of stops has been designed to fulfill the requirements of a concert organ: It can serve both as a solo instrument and as an accompaniment or even hold its own against a full orchestra