MY SPACE

A peek into lutherie workshops around the world

I’ve been working in this shop since 1988, but I’ve only been the manager for the past two years. Before that, it was owned by Roland Baumgartner, who’d been working there for almost five decades.

I started working with him soon after I finished studying at the Mittenwald Violin Making School, and apart from a little time spent with other makers in Germany and Switzerland, I’ve been here ever since. Roland finally decided to retire from instrument making and restoration in 2019, although he still comes in to assess, evaluate and appraise instruments, and issue certificates. So the shop now includes my own paraphernalia and a lot that I inherited from Roland; for instance, the showroom contains furniture from the Paris firms of Caressa & Français, Maucotel &

Deschamps, and Daniel Moinel. Roland had collected all of these over his long career as a violin maker.

Basel is well placed for a violin workshop. Not only does it have a very good music community, with a large number of ensembles and the City of Basel Academy of Music, but it’s also on the border with France and Germany. Many of my customers come across to Switzerland for repairs and restorations. I’m lucky to be based right in the centre of the city, not far from the railway station.

The workshop itself is around 20 sq m, but the whole apartment is more like 92 sq m. As well as the workshop I have a wood store, a room for larger equipment, a showroom and a big office. In 2019 we had a series of regular jazz chamber concerts in that large space, where guests could come and listen with a glass of wine, but sadly due to Covid this hasn’t happened for more than a year. Most of my time is taken up with restorations rather than new making, though I built some instruments during the lockdown. I’ve just finished the one on the far right bench, which now needs varnishing.

This bench is where I rehair bows. I’ve kept the same tools that I made when studying with bow maker Hans-Karl Schmidt in Dresden; and I certainly like a good cup of espresso while I’m working!

I made this cello a long time ago, and I keep it here to lend to customers when they leave their instruments with me to repair – such as the one on the bench, which has a bass-bar crack I need to sort out.

In my office is an abstract painting by Niklaus Schürmann, from 2005. The picture on the workshop wall is by the Basque artist and sculptor Eduardo Chillida.

Right In the showroom are my copy of a 1698 Stradivari and all the parts of a playable miniature violin by the Mittenwald luthier Franz Reindl.

This mould for a Stradivari model violin was given to me as a present from an old Mittenwald family of violin makers, who also gave me the first wood I ever used. I made my very first instrument on this form.

I like to keep my workshop clean and tidy at all times. It might be seen as a cliché of Switzerland but in my case it’s true! There are close-up pictures of Stradivaris throughout the shop.