Franz Andreas Violin – Mittenwald, Germany 1951

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Mittenwald is one of those must-see cities/villages to visit for musicians if you’re going to Europe. The city is located along the Isar River on the border of Austria and is a post-card town, almost as if you are stepping back in time. Initially it was a Roman way station, serving as a key transit point for goods passing between Germany and the Italian Alps. In 1307 this tiny alpine village became chartered. It is also known as the “Village of a Thousand Violins” This small Bavarian town in southern Germany is sited next to the Karwendel Mountains, a source for the fine woods that are a major ingredient for a luthier, which helped establish the town as a center for violin making for three and a half centuries. The mountain forests produced beautiful tonewoods and its location along a prominent trade route connected with Venice, Italy and allowed the Mittenwald luthiers to become internationally recognized and successful. It started with Matthias Klotz in the 1680’s and his three sons: also, Mathias Neuner, twenty or more Hornsteiners who also made the town famous, and J. A. Baader and his violin making firm in the early 1700’s. Because of WWI violin making almost ceased, it just survived, and after WWII, Mittenwald’s luthiers returned to building. In 1858 King Maximilian II of Bavaria founded a violin making school to help preserve Mittenwald’s culture. Members of the Klotz family made up the original faculty. It is still an important violin making school to this day. It breathed life back into the centuries old tradition of violin making after the wars and has trained some of the most respected modern luthiers of the 20th century, including Hans Weisshaar, Charles Beare, Rolland Feller, and Hans & Nancy Benning.

Corpus 358.0 mm., Major Width 207.0 mm., 169.0 mm., Rib Height 30.0 mm.

We have many Mittenwald makers represented and for sale in the shop. This Franz Andreas violin is another in that lineup. This instrument represents German quality, craftsmanship, and a maker devoted to the craft. We have meticulously gone over the entire violin, giving it a new ebony fingerboard and nut, new set of pegs, bridge, soundpost, a German Wittner tailpiece, chinrest, and a new end button. The violin has no issues. It has the classic red/orange/brown varnish on a golden ground. It is a two-piece flamed maple back comprised of woods from the nearby forests. It is Stradivarius model violin.

The sound is nice. It would not call this a powerhouse, but a mature sound that speaks well and leans to the dark side of the tonal palate, a little smooth and creamy. The violin has plenty of drive. The sound sustains and delivers on the responsive end for all the strings. The G and D seem almost viola-like in depth of tone and the E and A strings sing out. If you’re looking for a great all-around violin, a bread & butter violin, one with German craftsmanship, literally great bones, then this violin with a buttery and creamy sound could be your next instrument.