Bergkamm

History of violin making in Klingenthal

A tradition dating back to the 17th century

In 2016, the music town of Klingenthal celebrated the 300th anniversary of the founding of its violin makers' guild. The guild was founded on January 24, 1716 with a constituent meeting. For Klingenthal, this marked the beginning of a tradition of musical instrument making that continues to this day, which has played a significant role in the worldwide reputation of our town and continues to attract numerous guests to cultural events every year.

This was preceded by a relatively short application process, which nevertheless contains a special feature that underlines the importance of violin making as an exceptional craft: on December 17, 1715, the bailiff of Vogtsberg reported to Duke Moritz Wilhelm of Saxony-Zeitz that four violin makers in Klingenthal namely 'Hannß George Ludewig, George Caspar Hopff, Johann George Dörffler and George Friedrich Hopff' had requested permission to establish their own guild in Klingenthal.

A master's widow was also to be admitted. Her deceased husband Johann Michael Hopff had been instrumental in the founding of the guild. Just four weeks later, on January 20, 1716, the ruler confirmed the guild articles and the founding convention finally took place on January 24, 1716. In principle, the founding of a guild (in Saxon: Innung) was only permitted for craftsmen with civil rights who were based in towns.

However, Klingenthal did not have a town charter at the time and so Duke Moritz Wilhelm von Sachsen-Zeitz granted the founding of the guild to the inhabitants of a village, so to speak! However, the violin makers did not see themselves as craftsmen, historical sources mostly refer to the 'art' of violin making. This pride resonated in the guild articles: A master violin - to this day an exclusive instrument - was to come from one and the same workshop, from the cutting of the wood to the finishing and varnishing - in other words, it was to be 'wholly crafted'.

The sale of so-called 'white goods', i.e. unvarnished raw violins, was frowned upon and expressly criminalized under Article 11. Article 8 already prohibited peddling - master violin makers were only allowed to sell to reputable violin dealers. Knowledge of the art of violin making had come to Klingenthal through predominantly Protestant exiles who had left their homeland as a result of the Thirty Years' War and the resulting re-Catholicization of Bohemia and settled in Saxony.

For Klingenthal violin making, the name of the Hopf family (also: Hopff) also became a type of instrument of the same name that is still in demand today and whose design was followed by many other violin makers. However, other master violin makers and dynasties also contributed to the good reputation of Klingenthal instruments: Dörffel, Schloßer, Übel, Goram and Meisel all made instruments of excellent quality. The careful selection of wood also contributed to this: spruce wood for the top and maple wood for the back were felled in the high altitudes around the Klingenthal valley. So-called tonewood (sound wood) and precise processing of this raw material were the cornerstones of high-quality instruments whose reputation still rings out into the world today.

In the middle of the 19th century, Klingenthal saw the start of the boom in harmonica production and, a little later, hand harmonica production. As home-based suppliers or factory workers, there was no need for a four-year apprenticeship or expensive training fees - the violin makers were running out of young talent, even from their own ranks. Finally, on January 9, 1887, the Klingenthal violin makers' guild was dissolved.

Xenia Brunner, Head of the Music and Winter Sports Museum, Klingenthal, 2016