Carl F. Zimmermann

[stringbed]

Several topics on this forum include references to Carl F. Zimmermann’s autobiography and the role he played in the development of the autoharp. Rather than add further commentary to the older discussions, I’m starting a new topic for two purposes.

 

The first is to call attention to a recent translation of his entire autobiography from German to English, here.

 

The second is to call similar attention to a chronological account of the dates on which pivotal innovations that led to the autoharp can be attested. That account is here and addresses a pervasive misunderstanding of the priority of the contributions made by ZImmermann and other German instrument makers.

[b13]

Are you shure, you´ve choosen the right forum?

 

I know, Zimmermann is a important man in the history of concertinas, but your target is the "autoharp". As i see an autoharp, it is a stringed instrument. Not uninteresting, but also not relevant for a concertina-forum. Sorry.

[stringbed]

My comment was primarily intended to call attention to an English translation of Zimmermann's German autobiography. The original text was uncovered during the course of autoharp-based research in the early 1960s but has since been cited frequently in writing about the history of the concertina. Other than by noting the context of the document’s discovery, I'm at a loss to see how the linked blog post is more specific to one instrument than to the other.

 

Before preparing the translation, I searched across all forums here for references to Zimmermann. That returned previous discussion both about his autobiography and relationship to the autoharp. I then searched separately for it, which reveled further discussion that propagated an entrenched misunderstanding of the autoharp’s own history. It therefore seemed reasonable to point additionally to a clarifying text about that. I apologize for the intrusion.

[b13]

Sorry, i did not follow your links for security-reasons, not because of YOU as a person, but because it´s your first post here and today you have to take care by trusting links, whitch can lead you anywhere an the planet and out of space.

 

I hope, you are not angry about this.

[Stephen Chambers]

5 hours ago, b13 said:

Are you shure, you´ve choosen the right forum?

 

I know, Zimmermann is a important man in the history of concertinas, but your target is the "autoharp". As i see an autoharp, it is a stringed instrument. Not uninteresting, but also not relevant for a concertina-forum. Sorry.

 

Carl F. Zimmermann was an important early German concertina manufacturer who displayed his wares at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, which would have been their biggest exposure at that time. There might never have been such a thing as an Anglo-German concertina without such  international exposure of the German instrument...

 

As a concertina historian I'd consider him, and anything that casts light on his biography (such as this), to be entirely relevant on this Concertina History thread.

Edited July 17, 2024 by Stephen Chambers

[Stephen Chambers]

4 hours ago, stringbed said:

My comment was primarily intended to call attention to an English translation of Zimmermann's German autobiography. The original text was uncovered during the course of autoharp-based research in the early 1960s but has since been cited frequently in writing about the history of the concertina. Other than by noting the context of the document’s discovery, I'm at a loss to see how the linked blog post is more specific to one instrument than to the other.

 

Before preparing the translation, I searched across all forums here for references to Zimmermann. That returned previous discussion both about his autobiography and relationship to the autoharp. I then searched separately for it, which reveled further discussion that propagated an entrenched misunderstanding of the autoharp’s own history. It therefore seemed reasonable to point additionally to a clarifying text about that. I apologize for the intrusion.

 

You have absolutely nothing to apologise for, your post is entirely relevant.

[Bassconcertina.net]

On 7/7/2024 at 11:45 AM, stringbed said:

Several topics on this forum include references to Carl F. Zimmermann’s autobiography and the role he played in the development of the autoharp. Rather than add further commentary to the older discussions, I’m starting a new topic for two purposes.

 

The first is to call attention to a recent translation of his entire autobiography from German to English, here.

 

The second is to call similar attention to a chronological account of the dates on which pivotal innovations that led to the autoharp can be attested. That account is here and addresses a pervasive misunderstanding of the priority of the contributions made by ZImmermann and other German instrument makers.

Now this is cool!   Makes me almost think my concertina could have possibly been made by him. Anyways I always thought the simplicity of his ten button instruments was cool.