The main cathedral organ of Nidaros cathedral, is the monumental Steinmeyer organ with 129 stops, built in 1930. With more than 9.600 pipes, it is one of the largest instruments in northern Europe.
As the organ was built, the western part of the cathedral nave had still not been finished when the new organ arrived from Oettingen, Bavaria. So the organ was erected in the north transept, taking up the whole floor space of the transept. The console, on wheels, stood in the crossing of the cathedral. The organ was inaugurated for the 900th anniversary celebrations of the battle of Stiklestad.
The great nave of the cathedral had already been completed for more than twenty years when the decision was taken in 1960 to place the organ at a distance in front of the cathedral's west wall. The facade still consisted of the case of the former baroque organ, originally built in 1741 by Joachim Wagner. Since this front was much too small for the organ it stood on a projecting gallery, on which the console was also placed. The pedal organ was located behind this gallery, directly on the cathedral floor. The windows, including the wonderful rose window, were still visible above the organ.
The concept and style of the organ as such had undergone significant changes since the instrument was built. The time when organs had over one hundred stops and an electric action had passed, neo-baroque organs conformed to the spirit of the time. Thus the Steinmeyer organ lost a number of its 16' and 8' stops. The swell organ of the third manual moved into the triforium at the front end of the nave, where, with some additions, it was used as chancel organ from then on. The swell organ of the second manual survived as a single unit. It was placed in front of the west wall at the northern end of the triforium, where the height of the interior does not allow for open 16' stops. The windchests of the great organ, the choir organ and small pedal organ found their place on the gallery. The high pressure stops and the chests of the solo division were removed in their entirety. Many pipes of the 16' and 8' stops were put into storage, being no longer needed. When a fire occurred in this storeroom, wooden pipes, English tubas and other metal pipes were destroyed, whilst the damage to many zinc pipes was almost as destructive, following repeated storage.
The historical case front was removed from the Steinmeyer organ in 1994, as a consequence of the restoration/reconstruction of the Wagner organ in the north transept. The «innards» of the Steinmeyer organ were now on view to all comers, a far from pretty sight!
The planning of a restoration of the complete Steinmeyer organ started already in the 1970s, less than 15 years after the organ had been reduced and relocated in the western part of the cathedral.
In 2007 it was finally decided that the organ was to be preserved and restored back to its original condition from 1930. The location was determined for the cathedral's west wall, under the rose window.
In November 2012, the Swiss firm Orgelbau Kuhn AG started the restoration of the organ and in September 2013, the reconstruction of the 40 ton heavy organ in Nidaros Cathedral started.
In May 2014, in connection with the grand national constitution anniversary in 2014, the Steinmeyer organ was once again inaugurated in Nidaro's cathedral.