John Reiter, Interesting Mittenwald Violin – 1922 – Beautiful Sound!

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Mittenwald was Germany’s second violin making hub. Located in the Bavarian mountains, Mittenwald means “mitten im wald”- in the midst of the forest. There were at least four reasons I can think of why violin making thrived in this area. For one, the wood source made it a natural place, along with the Bohemian immigrants that came and resided there. These immigrants had extraordinary hand skills in crafting wood. Economically, Mittenwald was located along the trade routes from Augsburg south to Bolzano and Venice. International sales of their instruments spread all over Europe, north and south. Fourth, the craftsmen also had very teachable spirits which led them to travel and learn from prominent masters in Tyrol and northern Italy. Instrument making in Mittenwald dates back into the mid 1600’s and eventually, needing to protect the art of violin making, King Maximilian II of Bavaria founded the Mittenwald Violin Making school.
Our violin is handmade and in excellent condition. The lines are clean and crisp, very much in an Italian tradition as far as the arching and overall design. The violin is beautiful, with a clarity of varnish all done by brush. We have gone over then entire violin in or workshop and completed a new set up for the instrument. This older violin is ready for another century.

Corpus 359.0 mm., Major Width 206.0 mm., Minor Width 165.0 mm., Rib Height 30.0 mm

The sound is deep, full, and has a warmth to the tone. The player will feel the response of all the strings when they play. The G and D strings have a power that resonate and each string has very good sustain. The treble side is brilliant and sweet, with plenty of power. The E & A strings ring with clarity and they add to the overall power and performance of the instrument. This is a Wow!-sound in my book; a violin in excellent condition, darker varnish, and great strength in sound.