Our History

Orgelbaumeister (Master Organ Builder) Martin Ott, born and raised in Göttingen, Germany, comes from a family of distinguished pipe organ builders. Mr. Ott's father, Orgelbaumeister Alfred Ott, and uncle, Orgelbaumeister Paul Ott, were an influence throughout his career. Alfred Ott was tonal director at the reed pipe manufacturer Giesecke & Sohn in Göttingen (1946-1986). He was an important influence on Martin's approach to voicing and scaling. Paul Ott was one of the priamary organ builders in the revival of tracker-action organs in Germany. The Ott family represents more than 75 years of organ building.

Beginning as an apprentice in 1960, Martin Ott worked in the Orgelbauwerkstatt shop (organ building workshop) of his uncle Orgelbaumeister Paul Ott and continued into his journeyman years. From this experience, he learned all the technical aspects of organ building. During his journeyman years, he also spent time at the Holtkamp Organ Co., in Cleveland Ohio. Following a formal study at the School for Music Instrument Building in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Wurttemberg, he completed his Orgelbaumeister examination in 1969 and continued to work in Germany.

Orgelbaumeister Alfred Ott at one of his retirement hobbies, blacksmithing.

After permanently moving to the United States, Martin Ott started his own organ building company near his Kirkwood (St. Louis area) home. In 1973, he Martin Ott Pipe Organ Company, in St. Louis, Missiouri was established. At that time, installation and tonal finishing of imported organs from Germany and Canada (Casavant Freres) were the primary source of business but contracts for new organ commissions quickly developed. In 1975, the company moved to an available space in Second Presbyterian Church in the historical Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis. Our company's first free-standing facilities were in Westport, MO (St. Louis area) on Bowling Green Avenue. Larger instruments were first built at this Westport location. Later, additions were made to this shop so the casework for Op. 17 (Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL) could be built on site. In spite of these additions, we quickly outgrew these facilities. In 1987, we moved to 1353 Baur Boulevard. Company growth continued and new facilities were added. In 1991, the company moved to the new 7000 sq. ft. facilities. At the festive dedication to celebrate the expanded facilities, three different portative organs were played in a recital in the shop.

Today, we maintain our efficiency by acquiring new equipment and technology without compromising our hand-crafted quality.