The commission to build the 4-foot positiv in the village church of Nieuw-Scheemda was granted in 1695 to Arp Schnitger. It is the same year in which Arp Schnitger built a positiv for the Stadt Collegium Musicum. 
It is unclear whether the commission in in Nieuw-Scheemda was a result of the building of the positiv for the Stadt Collegium Musicum. The organ in Nieuw- Scheemda was completed in 1698. The organ still contains a great deal of original material, including many pipes, windchest, keydesk and organ-case. In 1810 the  organ was altered by the organ builder N.A. Lohman. These changes were brought back to the original situation during the 1968 restoration by Metzler/Bernhardt  Edskes. The temperament is the original modified meantone (1/5 comma). In 1988 a number of improvements were carried out, relating to e.g. wind pressure and intonation