the Basilica of Saint Willibrord was built in the years 1610–1612 by the French-Flemish organ builder Loys Isoré. Isoré worked in Antwerp at the time. He built a single manual instrument with 13 voices and a 'short octave' for the main church. In 1685 the Flemish Frederik Noblo carried out extensive repairs to the wind supply, pipework and mechanics. In the course of the eighteenth century, repairs were carried out by the Antwerp organ builder Moreau. Painter Johan Baltisberger renovated the paintings on the organ shutters. A plan to expand the organ with a Rugwerk was not implemented. In 1764, Louis Delhaye from Antwerp was commissioned to make new wind chests and to place most of the old pipes on them, supplemented with the new registers Prestant 8 'and Sesquialter. There also had to be a third in the Cornet. A radical change awaited from 1929. Then the organ's pipes, mechanics and bellows were merged with a smaller, similar organ used in the choir church. On a wind chest from Cavaillé-Coll (bought in 1874) above the sacristy, the two organs were brought together to form an electropneumatic instrument. Under the leadership of adviser Hans van der Harst, the organ was restored and reconstructed in 1970/71 by the company Flentrop (Zaandam). She expanded the organ with a breastwork and free pedal. The Cavaillé-Coll wind chest was removed and moved to Haarlem. Of the 14 original registers, 11 could be wholly or partially preserved. In the breastwork (Positief) old Flemish pipes could be used in the Doublette 2 '. The result of this restoration and new construction is an organ of a completely southern character. In 1989 the organ was overhauled again with a cleaning and re-intonation. The Regaal 16 'was converted into an 8-foot register. This latest restoration has contributed to the organ being further expanded and the authenticity of the sound to come into its own even better. In 2012 Flentrop Orgelbouw started implementing a five-year maintenance plan. Repair work, re-intonation and cleaning of greenhouses and pipework were on the program. Today the organ is an artistic showpiece of the French-Flemish organ building style in the Netherlands. Restoration The basilica was restored between 1996 and 1999. The planning for this started in 1987. Six and a half tons of natural stone was impregnated with concrete and old Balegem sandstone replaced by natural stone from the Czech Republic (trachyte). Over 3000