Joseph Merklin
1864

From Organs of Paris website [site translated]:
The organ comes from the Sainte-Chapelle. It was built in 1771 by François-Henri Clicquot in a case built in 1756 and 1757 by the carpenter Lavergne after a drawing by Pierre-Noël Rousset. It was a large 8 feet of four keyboards and pedalboard.

In 1790, the Sainte-Chapelle was disused, the instrument was then bought by the parish of St Germain l'Auxerrois and then reassembled. Sound material from the old organs of the Ecole Militaire and the collegiate church of Saint-Honoré were also incorporated into the instrument, which was transfered by Pierre Dallery (associated with François-Henri Clicquot before the latter's death in 1790).

During the 1st half of the nineteenth century, the instrument underwent various modifications, but it was between 1838 and 1841 that Louis-Paul Dallery made important transformations: modification of the composition, reconstruction of the wind tunnel, installation of a German pedalboard for the organist of the time, Alexandre-Pierre-François Boëly, who wished to be able to play the works of JS Bach. The organ then had 36 stops. Dallery added a Bourdon 8 to the great organ, a Clarinet 8 to the positive, an Cor Anglais to the Récit and increased the pedal by eight notes, with a new German pedal. The instrument then has 4 manual keyboards.

From 1847 to 1850, the instrument was restored by Ducroquet, who significantly modified the instrument: he reduced the number of manual keyboards to three, rebuilt the large organ bases, built a new expressive Récit, and replaced the Tierce of the positive by a Salicional of 4.

In 1864, the instrument was somewhat reworked by Joseph Merklin who had taken over Ducroquet's Parisian workshops. The foundations were flagged but the old reeds remained intact, with the exception of the 2nd trumpet of great organ shifted into a Bombarde 16. The pedal base was rebuilt and a Barker machine added for the great organ and couplings. The organ then had 35 stops on 3 keyboards and pedalboard.

In 1900, a major lifting was carried out by Joseph Gutschenritter. Between 1970 and 1980, Adrien Maciet carried out various works. He replaced the stops of Salicional 8, the Flute 4 and the Clarinet 8 by a Tierce, a Cromorne and two mixtures. Clicquot's 2nd Trumpet 8, modified by Merklin, was restored.

From 1995 to 2005, the degraded instrument became silent. In 2005, the Parisian builder Michel Goussuput the organ back in the wind.In 2008, an overhaul was carried out by Laurent Plet. Maciets additions have been reclassified and realigned. The original reeds are recalibrated, thus restoring the Grand Jeu of Cliquot. Merklin's additions and voicings are preserved and restored. The same goes for Ducroquet's Récit, which has become inaudible and regains its presence. 21 out of 33 stops date back to the 18th century.

Expected: an overhaul by Jean-Baptiste Gaupillat. Similar to the organs at St. Roch and St. Laurent, this organ has two faces: a classical face and a 19th century-face.