Pels & Van Leeuwen Organ builders

Pels & Van Leeuwen is a Dutch organ-building company with roots dating back to 1903, when Bernardus Pels founded the firm in Alkmaar. Over more than a century it has grown, merged, and relocated several times, becoming one of the larger European organ builders under the name B. Pels & Zn. before adopting its current name in 1964 after a merger with the Willem van Leeuwen firm of Leiderdorp. The company has been based in 's-Hertogenbosch since 1981 and moved within the municipality to the former Bernadettekerk in Maliskamp (Rosmalen) in 2017. The firm specialises in the restoration of historic organs and the construction of new instruments, numbering its instruments chronologically as Opus numbers. Its organs can be found in numerous churches and concert venues in the Netherlands, as well as abroad in Belgium, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Russia, the United States, and the Far East. Notable recent deliveries include the 2016 Schiedam Havenkerk (St. Jan de Doper), the 2015 restoration at 's-Hertogenbosch Grote Kerk, and the 2014 Rotterdam Stadhuis organ. The company also maintains instruments and offers preventive maintenance services. After a bankruptcy filing in January 2017, a restart was announced a month later, and the firm continues to operate with around sixteen employees. Artistic direction is in the hands of Rochus van Rumpt jr. and the business side is managed by Jacqueline van Rumpt. The company remains a private, family-influenced enterprise and is actively recruiting colleagues, as indicated on its website.

The firm was founded in 1903 by Bernardus Pels (1870–1933), who had previously been a master craftsman at L. Ypma & Co. His son Anton Pels (1895–1960) expanded the business into one of the largest organ builders in Europe under the name B. Pels & Zn. In 1959, the company took over the Rotterdamsche Electrische Kerk- & Concertorgelfabriek Valckx & Van Kouteren & Co. The third generation was again a Bernard Pels (1921–1996), who continued his father-in-law's organ-building firm D'Hondt in Herselt in 1962 under the name Pels D'Hondt. In the same year, Rochus van Rumpt (1919–1996) became co-owner of the Alkmaar-based company, which he had represented from 's-Hertogenbosch for South Netherlands and Belgium since 1952. In 1964, the then struggling company merged with the organ-building firm Willem van Leeuwen in Leiderdorp, founded in 1903 by Gerrit van Leeuwen. The firm continued under the name Pels & Van Leeuwen, now in Alkmaar. Under the leadership of Rochus van Rumpt, the company went bankrupt in 1970. He continued the business from the garage at his home in Gameren. In 1974, the company moved to a former school building next to the striking white church located just off the A2 motorway in Waardenburg. In 1979, his son Peter van Rumpt (born 1948) joined the firm. In 1981, the company settled in 's-Hertogenbosch. A monumental care centre, Sint-Jozefgesticht De Meerwijck in Orthen, was converted into a multi-purpose centre for several businesses, in which the Van Rumpt family and the firm Pels & Van Leeuwen took an important place. In 1990, this building was vacated and converted into an apartment complex. Later, artistic direction came into the hands of Rochus van Rumpt jr. (born 1978) and the business side was managed by Jacqueline van Rumpt (born 1984). In January 2017, director-owner Peter van Rumpt filed for bankruptcy of the firm, but a month later a restart was announced. The firm has approximately sixteen employees. It increasingly specialises in restoring historic organs, while new-build projects are more and more carried out in distant foreign countries (United States, Far East). Organs built by Pels & Van Leeuwen or its predecessors can be found in the Orgelpark in Amsterdam and in numerous churches in the Netherlands and abroad, including the Nederlandse Kerk in London and the Groote Kerk in Cape Town, South Africa. The company numbers its organs chronologically as Opus numbers.

• 2017

  Bankruptcy filing in January; restart announced in February; moved to Maliskamp (Rosmalen)

• 1990

  Left Sint-Jozefgesticht De Meerwijck building

• 1981

  Established in 's-Hertogenbosch

• 1979

  Peter van Rumpt joined the firm

• 1974

  Moved to former school building in Waardenburg

• 1970

  Bankruptcy under Rochus van Rumpt; continued from Gameren

• 1964

  Merged with Willem van Leeuwen firm, forming Pels & Van Leeuwen

• 1962

  Rochus van Rumpt became co-owner; Pels D'Hondt continued in Herselt

• 1959

  Took over Rotterdamsche Electrische Kerk- & Concertorgelfabriek Valckx & Van Kouteren & Co.

• 1903

  Founded by Bernardus Pels in Alkmaar

Specialist in historic organ restoration and high-quality new instruments, with a growing focus on international new-build projects.

• 1950

  Fokker organ, 31-tone, Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

• 2016

  Schiedam Havenkerk (St. Jan de Doper)

• 2016

  Ede Particulier

• 2015

  Maasdam Herv. Kerk

• 2015

  's-Hertogenbosch Grote Kerk

• 2014

  Rotterdam Stadhuis

• 2014

  Cuijk Herv. Kerk

• 2014

  Tielt (B) Sint-Pieterskerk

• 2014

  Amsterdam Jeruzalemkerk

• 2014

  Lith St. Lambertuskerk

• 2014

  Gent-Meulestede H. Antonius Abt

• 2013

  West-Graftdijk Prot. Gemeente

• 2012

  Kostroma (Rusland) Philharmonie

• 2012

  Boxtel PKN

• 2011

  's Hertogenbosch Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis

• 2010

  Nieuw Lekkerland Hervormde Kerk

1. 1Pels & Van Leeuwen - Orgelmakerijpelsenvanleeuwen.nl
2. 2Pels & Van Leeuwen - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Pels & Van Leeuwen - Wikipedia (NL)nl.wikipedia.org