1 mins
MY SPACE
LUTHIER MARIA SANDNER
LOCATION Wallgau, Germany
I’ve been based in Wallgau, about six miles north of Mittenwald, since 2020. I studied at the Mittenwald School of Violin Making and spent 20 years working as a luthier in town. It was a very nice shop on the main street, formerly owned by the maker Johann Reiter, but there was only one small window. I’m much happier in this large, spacious workshop with two big windows that allow lots of light into the room. It also gives me a fine view of the Bavarian Alps if I ever need inspiration!
Although I continue to repair and restore instruments, for the past couple of years, nearly all my new making has been in the realm of miniature violins. All of them are playable, although the sound isn’t necessarily the best, and each one comes with a mini bow made by my friend Thomas Winterling, even if it’s going to someone who never intends to play it. I recently made one for a businessman who wanted to give it to his violinist wife on their wedding day! I also make display cases containing all the parts of a violin laid out. I’m flattered when other violin makers ask to buy these, as they use them to explain to their customers the intricacies of making a violin. It takes around a month to make each instrument, and they require a very steady hand; some parts, like the bridge, are exceptionally difficult to carve, while the purfling takes forever to fit.
The instrument hanging up to the right of the window is an ‘octave violin’, made by Johann Reiter in 1955. It’s the size of a large viola with a back length of 420mm, but the ribs are 55mm deep, so it has a very deep, rich tone, an octave lower than normal. Reiter conceived it as a kind of mobile cello, and even wrote his own compositions for it. My father is also a violin maker and when I moved into Reiter’s workshop in the 1990s, he gifted me this instrument to give it a kind of homecoming. ●
PROFILE PHOTO HANS SCHMID. WORKSHOP PHOTOS FABIAN ROESSLER