Luthiers
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...
Kurt Lutz was a well-regarded German luthier who, along with many other instrument makers, settled in Bubenreuth, Germany following World War II. Mr. Lutz provided a first-hand account of the era by explaining that the city council created a poster seeking to find instrument makers displaced by the...
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...
Horst Teller was the son of Oskar Teller, who formed a small workshop in 1929 in Schonbach to make musical instruments. After World War II, the company was rebuilt in Bubenreuth in 1949 and soon Oskar was joined in his shop by his son Horst. Horst began expanding the product line to include...
Lothar Seifert came from a family of musical instrument makers in the Kirchberg area of Germany. His father, Oskar, began making bows in 1924 and by 1932 has set up a work shop in Graslitz. Like so many refugees, the Seifert family was forced to re-locate after World War II. They had heard of a...
Wolfgang Teller joined the family musical instrument making business in 1980. His grandfather, Oskar, formed a small shop in 1928 and his father, Horst, joined him in 1949. When Wolfgang finished his apprenticeship it was decided to move the workshop from Bubenrueth, Germany to close by Neukirchen...
Thomas Dotzauer is a master mandolin builder from the region of famed music instrument production center Bubenreuth in Germany. He did his apprenticeship in guitar production of Walter Hoyer for the Hoyer Guitar Company. Over the years Thomas Dotzauer has focused on producing custom-made mandolins...
Herbert Volkmann like so many of his generation saw the horrors of war while growing up in Germany before and during World War II. Herbert and other musical instrument makers moved to Bubenreuth after the war and focused on the craftsmanship that for Herbert was a family tradition. Amid the sorrow...
Manuel Rodriguez Jr. learned as his father did, the deep rooted tradition of building a classical guitar. He is very proud of his father and grandfather, as well as the time-honored craftsmanship and skills required to make a fine Rodriguez instrument. Unlike so many others consumed by the...