This is a list and brief description of notable pipe organs in the world, with links to corresponding articles about them.

Historic organs

The oldest organ in the world which has been restored to playability is the organ of the Church of the Nativity, whose pipes date to the 11th century. The instrument had been buried in the churchyard during the political upheavals of the 13th century, and was unearthed in 1906. It has been restored to a playable state, involving reconstruction of the wooden parts of the organ, and was first played again in 2025 after nearly 800 years of inactivity. It is generally agreed upon that the world's oldest playable pipe organ, including the instrument's mechanism, is located in the Basilica of Valère in Sion, Switzerland. Built around 1435, most of the case is original, but only 12 pipes are original, as the rest have been replaced during restorations. It said that the organ in the church of St. Andreas at Ostönnen (Westfalia, Germany) is even older than the organ mentioned above. Its wind chests and divisions date back to 1425 - 1430, and half the pipes are still original. However, the case and key action were rebuilt in the Baroque period. In the San Petronio Basilica in Bologna there is a Lorenzo da Prato organ built in 1475 with a lot of original stops, and is still playable after a restoration took place in 1986. In the Old Cathedral (Duomo Vecchio) in Brescia (Italy) there is a Giangiacomo Antegnati (1536) - Fratelli Serassi (1826) organ. When in the 19th century the Antegnati was restored and enlarged, the priests of the church, in admiration of Antegnati masterpiece, asked Serassi to preserve all the old pipes. The organ in Évora Cathedral in Portugal was built in 1562. Some of the materials used belong to a previous instrument from 1544. This organ is fully functional today. It had interventions in 1694 by Heitor Lobo, 1760 by Pasquale Gaetano Oldovini and 1967 Dirk Andries Flentrop. In Wilhelmsburg Castle in Schmalkalden, Germany, there is a historic organ built between 1587 and 1589 by Daniel Meyer. Notably its facade pipes are veneered with ivory. In Bälinge Church in Bälinge, Sweden, there is an organ built in 1632 with 51 pipes. It was constructed by George Herman (died ca 1655) and Philip Eisenmenger (died after 1657) in Stockholm. The Wood carvings on the facade were made by the German master carver Mårten Redtmer (died 1655), who also worked on the royal warship Wasa. The Johann Woeckerl Organ in the in Sopron, Hungary, was built in 1633, but the pipes of its Holzflöte 8 stop were made in 1580. Among the church's congregation was Vitus "Veit" Bach, a miller whose great-great-grandson Johann Sebastian Bach would compose the most celebrated organ music in the world. The organ of St Patrick's Cathedral is one of the largest in Ireland with over 4,000 pipes. Parts of it date from a Renatus Harris instrument of 1695."The Cathedrals of the Church of Ireland" Day, J.G.F./ Patton, H.E. p79: London, S.P.C.K., The oldest complete surviving church organ in the UK is that by Renatus Harris in St Botolph's Aldgate, and dates from 1744. The oldest fully functional organ in the Netherlands is that by Jan van Covelen in Laurenskerk of Alkmaar. It is a choir organ dating from 1511. The organ in the chapel de los Anaya in the Old Cathedral of Salamanca dates to the 14th or 15th century, making it the oldest organ in Spain. The Organ Historical Society maintains a citation list of historic North American organs.

The largest pipe organs in the world

There are many methodologies for comparison of organs according to their size. One of the most encompassing methodologies was described by Michał Szostak.

Civic and concert hall organs

+ Organ Country Location Builder Specifications Details Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, New Jersey Midmer-Losh Organ Company, 1929–32314 stops 7 manuals 449 ranks The largest pipe organ ever built, based on number of pipes. It weighs approximately 150 tons. Most of the organ has not functioned since 1944; a partial restoration in 1998 was largely reversed by construction damage during a renovation of the Boardwalk Hall shortly afterwards. A full restoration is currently underway to return the organ to playing order in a $16 million effort that, as of 2023, has not been completed. The Historic Organ Restoration Committee reports that as of 2023, 95% of the Ballroom Organ is operational, and 67% of the Main Auditorium organ is operational."The Restoration Project". Boardwalk Hall. 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019. Restoration work is ongoing to the extent that public concerts have resumed. It contains the world's largest Diaphone, the 64 ft Diaphone-Dulzian in the Pedal Right Division, which is also one of only two full-length 64 ft stops in the world, the other being the 64 ft Contra-Trombone stop at the Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ (See below) (click here for a sound sample) The Grand Ophicleide in the Pedal Right Division, speaking on 100" wind pressure, is also recognised by Guinness World Records as the loudest organ stop in the entire world. It is described as having "a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume, more than six times the volume of the loudest locomotive whistle". In fact, the Grand Ophicleide produces 130 dB at 1 meter distance. Wanamaker Grand Court Organ Wanamaker's (Until 2025 Macy's Center City), Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaLos Angeles Art Organ Co., 1904 Wanamaker store Organ dept, 1914–17, 1924–30376 stops 6 manuals 464 ranks The largest pipe organ in the world, based on number of ranks and physical mass weight. It ranks second in the world based on number of pipes.Theatreorgans.com, The World's Largest Pipe Organs, list of the world's 75 largest organs based on number of ranks It is the largest fully operational musical instrument in the world, with the weight of 287 tons. This concert organ was initially constructed for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis; it was designed by George Ashdown Audsley. The organ was purchased by John Wanamaker for his palatial Philadelphia store; disassembled, the organ filled 13 rail cars. Uniquely, the Wanamaker Organ had from the beginning full-time organ fabricators and technicians, a true "organ shop", building it to luxurious standards of quality.Theatreorgans.com, The Wanamaker Organ There are many recordings of this organ. It was played twice a day, six days a week, until the closure of the department store in which it was housed. As of October 2025, it is publicly performed during occasional concerts. Its 88-rank String Organ is the largest division in any pipe organ in the largest single organ chamber. Its Pedal Organ of 75 ranks (supplemented by additional borrowed ranks) is the largest Pedal department of any instrument, possessing unsurpassed richness of tone with the capacity for subtle bass gradation in volume and complete separateness of musical line from the manual stops. At 71 ranks, its Swell Division is the largest Swell ever built. It is the largest organ built to a straight design with minimal resorting to unification. It has more expression pedals (10) than any other pipe organ, and 8 separately expressive pipe divisions. Despite its formidable size and power, its strength and hallmark is in musical subtlety and nuance. It is also recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records. St Stephen's Cathedral Organ St. Stephen's Cathedral Passau, Germany Eisenbarth, 1978–81203 stops 5 manuals 223 registersWith its 17,974 pipes and 233 registers, the organ in Passau's cathedral is considered to be the largest Catholic church organ in the world and the largest organ in Europe. It ranks at the fifth place with its number of pipes. Auditorio Nacional (National Auditorium) Mexico CityPontificia Fabbrica d'Organi Cav. Giovanni Tamburini CREMA - ITALIA181 stops 5 manuals 250 ranks The largest concert hall organ in the Western Hemisphere and world's 6th largest concert hall organ (2nd and 7th respectively, if the Midmer-Losh in Boardwalk Hall is included). Newberry Memorial Organ Woolsey Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut E. M. Skinner142 stops 4 manuals 197 ranks The largest fully operational concert hall organ in the US. It is the third largest fully operational concert hall organ in the world, behind Auditorio Nacional and the Sydney Opera House organ. Barry Norris Residence Birmingham, Alabama 161 stops 5 manuals 200 ranks The world's largest house organ. It can be played from the console in the living room. Great Tamburini Organ Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro Pontificia Fabrica d'Organi Tamburini141 stops 7 manuals The largest organ in Brazil. The pipe organ was installed in the basilica in 1956. It consists of a main body and two secondary bodies: Principal, Choral, and Echo. It is controlled by two consoles, one with 5 manuals and the other with 2. Curtis Organ Irvine Auditorium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Austin Organ Company, Op. 1416, 1926122 stops 4 manuals 163 ranks This organ was built for the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia. At the time of its installation it was the fourth largest organ in the world. The presence of the Wanamaker Organ ranked it as the second largest pipe organ in Philadelphia. For many years it was ranked as 11th largest by pipe count, but recent combining of instruments under single console control have placed it in the top 25 largest in the world by ranks or pipe count. Sydney Opera House Grand Organ Sydney Opera House, Sydney130 stops 5 manuals 207 ranks The largest organ with mechanical key action. Royal Albert Hall Organ Royal Albert Hall, London147 stops 4 manuals Second largest pipe organ in the United Kingdom. Also known as the Voice of Jupiter. National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts Organ Fengshan District, Kaohsiung Johannes Klais Orgelbau105 stops 158 ranks This is the largest organ in Asia. Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ Sydney 127 stops 5 manuals This organ was for many years after its inception the largest in the world, and was the largest built in the nineteenth century. It remains the world's largest organ without any electric action components and is one of only two organs with a full-length 64 ft stop (the Contra-Trombone in the pedal) (click here for a sound sample). (The other being the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ.) Helsinki Music Centre Concert Organ (main concert hall) Helsinki Music Centre, Helsinki122 stops 5 manuals 125 ranks The Helsinki Music Centre is home to the monumental Rieger organ, the largest organ in Finland and currently also the largest concert hall organ in Europe. Built by the Austrian company Rieger Orgelbau, the instrument was inaugurated on 1 January 2024 with a concert by the French organist Olivier Latry.

The organ was designed by a dedicated artistic working group. Its striking visual appearance was created by the Austrian artist and organ designer Harald Schwarz and further developed together with Wendelin Eberle of Rieger. The project cost approximately 4.4 million euros.

The instrument features both a mechanical console integrated into the organ façade and a second mobile electric console located on the orchestral stage. Particularly innovative is the fourth manual of the mechanical console, where several stops — Violoncelle 8′, Principal 4′, Clarinette 8′ and Glissando 4′ — are built in quarter-tone tuning with 24 notes per octave, allowing the performance of microtonal music alongside the traditional organ repertoire. Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Op. 76124 stops 4 manuals