Kerschensteiners in Bavaria

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Kennethpauls
Posts: 104
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:45 pm
Location: Ventura Beach, California

Kerschensteiners in Bavaria

Post by Kennethpauls »

I'm traveling to Bavaria next month and am considering stopping to visit a zither builder named Reinhard Hermann who makes, I believe, Kerschensteiner-type zithers http://www.kerschensteiner-zitherbau.de/geschichte.htm. Does anyone know his work and whether it would be worth the side-trip? There seem to be a few other manufacturers of this same stylized, beautiful-shaped instrumenting the same area.
Rudy Mueller
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Location: Grafton WI 53024 RMUELLERMKE@GMAIL.COM

Re: Kerschensteiners in Bavaria

Post by Rudy Mueller »

Reinhard Hermann is an advertising sponsor of the periodical Musik & Tradition, where his success in building Kerschensteiner style zithers was reviewed quite favorably. Unfortunately, after searching through my back copies, it seems my copy of that issue was loaned out and not yet returned. If you contact Reinhard, he should be able to provide you a copy of the review (in German).

Kurt Eckroth has purchased a restored Kerschensteiner from Andreas Waldschütz whose shop is just outside Miesbach. Kurt will gladly share his impressions; Kurt and Jeff will be at the Iowa gathering this month We described a visit to Andreas' shop in another area of this site; if in Bavaria, a visit is definitely worth the time; call and schedule in advance before you leave.

If you do get to Miesbach, bring your appetite and stop at the Bräuwirt gasthof, right in "downtown" Miesbach. There are also a couple of great dirndl and "trachten" shops downtown.

Rudi Mueller
Kennethpauls
Posts: 104
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:45 pm
Location: Ventura Beach, California

Re: Kerschensteiners in Bavaria

Post by Kennethpauls »

The trip to Markneukirchen was a great success. Ulrike Meinel was so gracious and a kind host to us. Steffen Meinel at Wünsche was super friendly and gave us a nice tour of his factory. He let me try out a number of his models including the ultra-big Wilfried Scharf concert version.
While staying near the Chiemsee, I also stopped to meet Josef Hofmeyer (see youtube video) who makes detailed versions of Kerschensteiners besides his cabinet-making business on his farm. Not too far away, is Andreas Waldschutz who makes violins, besides restoring old zithers. He was so friendly, I went back again to see him the next day and he let me, once more, spend a few hours trying out some of his instruments. It was a great experience, and I learned so much about zither-making and the difference between instruments to acquire a better idea on sound and quality when looking for a new instrument.
Here are some photos of zithers in their shops. The wildly-detailed Schwartzer is a repair that Ulrike Meinel is doing for a German customer (sadly, not for sale).
KP
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