Wurlitzer Theater Organ

Recently, I have started research on the classic landmark, the Kentucky Theater.  A large part of the Kentucky Theater is its famous instrument, the Wurlitzer Organ.  The Mighty Wurlitzer is a pipe organ on which a version of “My Old Kentucky Home” was played at the Kentucky Theater’s opening in 1922.  I discovered the Mighty Wurlitzer when I was reading about the Kentucky Theater.  I was immediately drawn to it because of the uniqueness of it.  Although it may have been common to have an organ in a theater back in the day, I have never heard of anything like this.  Also, the fact that it is still there to this day is simply fascinating. 

The Mighty Wurlitzer is a greatly significant part of the Kentucky Theater.  When movies began having sound near the end of the 1920’s, organs became unessential and a lot of them were removed from the theaters. The Mighty Wurlitzer is the only organ left in a theater in the entire state of Kentucky.  After a fire in 1987, the Kentucky Theater had to undergo renovations in order to be restored, and initially, the Mighty Wurlitzer was not going to be included in the new Kentucky Theater. Although, in 1993, an entire committee was dedicated to putting the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ back where it truly belonged in the Kentucky Theater.

The Wurlitzer organ, so magnificent and majestic, raised some questions for me.  First of all, who was Wurlitzer?  Is that the name of just this particular organ, or an entire company?  Also, does this instrument still work?  In more recent times, one can find an organ in a church, and it appears to be rather normal, but why a movie theater?  Organs are so powerful, why would the not choose a simpler instrument?  These are all questions, which I hope to find the answers to in my research on the Kentucky Theater and the Mighty Wurlitzer.