I Will Be Visiting Klingenthal In Germany Shortly

[Gan Ainm]

I will be visiting Klingenthal shortly, as part of a brief visit to Germany and the Czech Republic. I would welcome any tips on what, if anything, there is to see there related to concertinas.

 

I know that the area was a major producer of cheap accordion-reeded concertinas in the past, when it was part of East Germany/DDR, but are concertinas are still produced and/or sold there and, if so, do you have the names of any makers or shops in that area, or within reasonable driving distance?

 

I know that some members of this forum will be of the view that Klingenthal-type concertinas are not "real concertinas" and so might say: "they never made concertinas there"! I am aware of the differences between "Klingenthals" and vintage British-made concertinas and I am interested in both types. Affordable East German concertinas were to be found in farmhouses throughout Ireland in the past and, no doubt, helped keep traditional Irish music alive for us all to enjoy today. Of course, they were intended to have a relatively short lifetime, which is probably one reason why the derelict surviving instruments have such a poor reputation today.

[Theo]

Silvetta still seem to be active

[Dan Worrall]

I will be visiting Klingenthal shortly, as part of a brief visit to Germany and the Czech Republic. I would welcome any tips on what, if anything, there is to see there related to concertinas.

 

I know that the area was a major producer of cheap accordion-reeded concertinas in the past, when it was part of East Germany/DDR, but are concertinas are still produced and/or sold there and, if so, do you have the names of any makers or shops in that area, or within reasonable driving distance?

 

I know that some members of this forum will be of the view that Klingenthal-type concertinas are not "real concertinas" and so might say: "they never made concertinas there"! I am aware of the differences between "Klingenthals" and vintage British-made concertinas and I am interested in both types. Affordable East German concertinas were to be found in farmhouses throughout Ireland in the past and, no doubt, helped keep traditional Irish music alive for us all to enjoy today. Of course, they were intended to have a relatively short lifetime, which is probably one reason why the derelict surviving instruments have such a poor reputation today.

 

These folks in Klingenthal still make two row instruments: http://www.akkordeon-schau-manufaktur.de/e...sh/produkte.htm

 

THis group in Carlsfeld is now making quality bandoneons: http://www.bandonion-carlsfeld.de/

 

The Schlossbergmuseum in Chemnitz had an extensive exhibit in 2001 on the concertina and accordeon building industry in the Chemnitz/Carlsfeld/Klingenthal region; not sure, but maybe there are still some free-reed exhibits there: http://www.chemnitz-concertina.de/de/start.htm?menu=x04

Schloßberg 12

09113 Chemnitz

Info-Telefon: +49-371-488 45 01

http://www.schlossbergmuseum.de/

 

Of COURSE they are real concertinas....all that chatter is a bit absurd. C F Uhlig put together the first 'anglo-style' keyboard in 1834. He didn't know what to call it (Akkordeon, Harmonika, Physharmonika), but they started to sell like hotcakes, because of the ease of play of the one and two row diatonic, single action keyboard, which still today is the guts of the 'anglo' concertina. You are doubtless aware of the lineage German concertina/Anglo-German concertina/Anglo-Chromatic concertina..which tracks the improvements on the original by both German and (most especially) English makers. By far the most popular concertina in Victorian England and Ireland (and the US) was the two row Anglo-German instrument, mostly those built in Germany...it was the foundation upon which our modern playing was based. They (along with larger concertinas and accordions) were built in Germany by the hundreds of thousands per year, when in Victorian times the total English-made concertina output was a few thousand per year....including English system, duets, Anglo-Germans and Anglo-chromatics. The German-made two row hex sided 'Anglo-German' instruments were produced from the early 1850s; it isn't clear whether an English maker or a German maker first adopted the six sides of the Wheatstone ENglish concertina, but both had the English market in mind. German-made A-G concertinas targeted England and its its colonies; Germans had long since left that simple two row design behind, and preferred larger, multirow, multivoiced Chemnitzers, Carlsfelders, and Bandoneons.

 

It was not only in Ireland where these German-built concertinas were the heart of the concertina craze....it was England too (and the US). English makers built A-Gs in very small numbers relative to the size of the total A-G market. In all of these places, when the concertina craze died out in the opening decades of the 20th century, the remaining tiny fraction of mostly serious players tended to somehow find and move up to infinitely superior English-made instruments, and once our various modern revivals got underway, that preference for higher quality instruments hasn't changed, of course. At least, that is how I see it...happy to be corrected!

 

Have a nice trip.

 

ps (edit) Uhlig's original factory, where it all started for anglo players, was at 'Am Anger 902' in Chemnitz. That address is now called Brueckenstrasse (his successors moved to Am Rosenplatz no.2 in 1895, so there is nothing concertina-related at the original site anymore). If you find it, and it hasn't been levelled for a condo, take a photo for me!

Edited May 21, 2008 by Dan Worrall

[Stephen Chambers]

Uhlig's original factory, where it all started for anglo players, was at 'Am Anger 902' in Chemnitz. That address is now called Brueckenstrasse (his successors moved to Am Rosenplatz no.2 in 1895, so there is nothing concertina-related at the original site anymore). If you find it, and it hasn't been levelled for a condo, take a photo for me!

Dan,

 

Per Ehmke of the Schlossbergmuseum took me to the site of Uhlig's original address in 2001, when I was involved in the exhibition, and I'm afraid that's exactly what has happened to it, and the US Airforce probably had a hand in the demolition job too!

 

In fact the irony of (possibly) US concertina players, bombing the home of the German concertina, was not lost on people in Chemnitz, who commented on it to me...

[Dan Worrall]

Uhlig's original factory, where it all started for anglo players, was at 'Am Anger 902' in Chemnitz. That address is now called Brueckenstrasse (his successors moved to Am Rosenplatz no.2 in 1895, so there is nothing concertina-related at the original site anymore). If you find it, and it hasn't been levelled for a condo, take a photo for me!

Dan,

 

Per Ehmke of the Schlossbergmuseum took me to the site of Uhlig's original address in 2001, when I was involved in the exhibition, and I'm afraid that's exactly what has happened to it, and the US Airforce probably had a hand in the demolition job too!

 

In fact the irony of (possibly) US concertina players, bombing the home of the German concertina, was not lost on people in Chemnitz, who commented on it to me...

Hi Stephen,

 

We Yanks always get the 'blame', but the facts may have been quite different. From Wikpedia for RAF:

 

The largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. While RAF bombing of Germany began almost immediately upon the outbreak of war, under the leadership of Air Chief Marshal Harris, these attacks became increasingly devastating from 1942 onward as new technology and greater numbers of superior aircraft became available. Controversially, the RAF adopted a policy of night-time area bombing that saw raids on German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden. Other units, however, developed precision bombing techniques for specific operations, such as the "Dambusters" raid by No. 617 Squadron [6]

 

For the record, Dresden is only 80 km from Chemnitz. So it might have been a morris dancing anglo player, rather than a Chemnitzer-playing midwestern Yank, who levelled Uhlig's house! This area was heavily industrialized, of course...a natural military target.

 

What the allies didn't finish, the Russians did. All remaining east German accordion production after WWII (which included that of all the main historically-producing areas) were 'collectivized' by the commies into one state-run factory at Klingenthal. Quality, of couse, plummeted, and the industry never recovered.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Dan Worrall

[Daniel Hersh]

Hartenhauer is another Klingenthal bandoneon maker.

 

These folks in Klingenthal still make two row instruments: http://www.akkordeon-schau-manufaktur.de/e...sh/produkte.htm

 

THis group in Carlsfeld is now making quality bandoneons: http://www.bandonion-carlsfeld.de/

 

The Schlossbergmuseum in Chemnitz had an extensive exhibit in 2001 on the concertina and accordeon building industry in the Chemnitz/Carlsfeld/Klingenthal region; not sure, but maybe there are still some free-reed exhibits there: http://www.chemnitz-concertina.de/de/start.htm?menu=x04

Schloßberg 12

09113 Chemnitz

Info-Telefon: +49-371-488 45 01

http://www.schlossbergmuseum.de/

[Stephen Chambers]

Per Ehmke of the Schlossbergmuseum took me to the site of Uhlig's original address in 2001, when I was involved in the exhibition, and I'm afraid that's exactly what has happened to it, and the US Airforce probably had a hand in the demolition job too!

 

In fact the irony of (possibly) US concertina players, bombing the home of the German concertina, was not lost on people in Chemnitz, who commented on it to me...

Hi Stephen,

 

We Yanks always get the 'blame', but the facts may have been quite different...

Dan,

 

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't saying "the Yanks" were 100% to blame, in fact the RAF were bombing by night, while the USAAF were doing it by day, and there were some Canadians involved along the way too...

 

For the record, Dresden is only 80 km from Chemnitz.

Indeed so, in fact I flew into Dresden (and stayed the night there) on my way to Chemnitz. There was a lot of reconstruction going on there at the time.

 

And yes, it was all part of that same horrific bombing campaign, which also saw the fire-bombing of Dresden.

 

So it might have been a morris dancing anglo player, rather than a Chemnitzer-playing midwestern Yank, who levelled Uhlig's house!

Maybe so, I don't know if it happened by day or by night (I only said they probably had a hand in it!). But the people in Chemnitz could see the Americans bombing them, and morris dancers don't play Chemnitzers, whilst the remark made to me in Chemnitz was more about the irony of "American concertina players bombing German concertina makers"...

 

This area was heavily industrialized, of course...a natural military target.

In fact Chemnitz was known as the "Manchester of Saxony" (or even as the "Manchester of Germany") and it's no coincidence that it is twinned with that famous industrial city in the North of England.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Stephen Chambers