Pipe organ in St Jakobi church, Pipe organ in St Jakobi church, Stralsund, Germany.

The organ in St Jakobi church features a baroque facade from 1741 combined with a new instrument built by Kristian Wegscheider in 2020. It holds around 3700 pipes and stands within a Gothic church dating back to the 14th century.

The first organ is documented in 1582; a 1699 report called it an old, patched-up work. Christian Gottlieb Richter built a new organ from 1732 to 1741, and its baroque case survives. Friedrich Albert Mehmel's 69-register organ of 1877 stood behind that case but fell silent after World War II. In 2017 the decision was made not to reconstruct it; Wegscheider built a new 51-register organ, inaugurated on 19 September 2020.

The organ defines the interior of this Gothic church with its ornate front, becoming the focal point when music fills the space during services and concerts. Visitors experience how craftsmanship and sound combine in this setting.

The organ can be experienced during public concerts and services held within the church. Visitors should check schedules in advance to hear it played, as the best experience comes from hearing it in action.

The 1741 case survived intact, but the Mehmel organ behind it was looted after its storage in 1943 and its four-manual console destroyed by vandals. When the new organ was planned, only 16% of the Mehmel instrument proved usable, so reconstruction was abandoned in 2017. The Wegscheider organ of 2020 reuses the 1783 Oberwerk chest and the 1741 pedal chest.