Bubenreuth Germany
Max Junger is the director of Pyramid Junger GmbH. He carries on the family tradition of string making in the 6th generation. Founded in 1850 as A. Osmanek Musikinstrumenten & Saitenfabrik, the company has its origins in Schönbach, which is today known as Luby, Czech Republic. After 1945, the...
Herbert Riedl was born into a family of violin makers and grew up on the street where Höfner produced guitars including the world-famous Beatles bass. With his friends he earned money stacking wood behind the factory and later became a journeyman at Höfner. He stayed with the company, building...
Richard Grünke of Richard Grünke & Söhne GmbH which is located close to Bubenreuth produces high quality bows. Richard’s sons, Klaus and Thomas, run the business today but their father is still active in the workshop. Richard learned the craft of bow making in Markneukirchen at H.R....
Ernst Lang married Paula Prüller 1958 in Luby, Czech Republic, formerly named Schönbach, and both came from families involved in the production of musical instruments. Ernst Lang’s father, Rudolf, made violins and violas while Paula’s father, Andreas Prüller, owned a company producing purflings for...
Walter Glaßl is leading the Walter Geipel Company known for producing rosin for string instruments in Bubenreuth, now in the third generation. The company was founded 1908 by Walter Geipel in Kirchberg close to the town of Schönbach, historically a major center of violin making. Walter Glaßl’s...
Norbert Stumpf was elected the mayor of Bubenreuth in 2014 and actively promotes the legacy of his town as an important center for stringed instrument production. At the end of World War II, hundreds of families involved in the production of stringed instruments settled in Bubenreuth. Even though...
Reiner Hammerl is the son of Josef Hammerl, who in 1938 opened a drugstore in Germany. Among the products he created himself were natural wood varnishes and stains that soon became well used by violin makers. When Reiner joined the company in 1954, the product line was well established as a leading...
Ernst Roth is a guitar luthier who over the last 40 years of his career has dedicated himself to training younger craftsman in the art of violin and guitar making. He was born in the musical instrument capital of the world, Markneukirchen, Germany. After his training he opened up his own shop in...
Herbert Wanka is the master bow maker who established his own company in Baiersdorf, Germany in 1971. He began making bows in 1952 and worked as an apprentice to the renowned craftsman, Emanuel Schuster, in Bubenreuth Germany. After completing his master examinations in 1968, Herbert formed his own...
Gerold Hannabach was born in Schönbach, Czechoslovakia into a family with a long tradition in the building of music instruments. In 1948 he did his apprenticeship at the guitar manufacturer, Arnold Hoyer in Bubenreuth near Nürnberg and opened a workshop for fine classical guitars for resale in 1953...