1 mins
LUTHIER FLORIAN BARTSCH
A peek into lutherie workshops around the world
Lutherie
ALL PHOTOS FLORIAN BARTSCH
Geigenbau Bartsch has been here in Essen, north-west Germany, since 1903, but we’ve only been based in this workshop for the past two and a half years. It’s a result of the pandemic: there used to be a gymnastics studio next door to the shop, but the business fell prey to the lockdowns and folded in 2020. Then the landlord asked if we’d like to take over the space, and after ten minutes of discussion we decided to do it. During Covid, our business dropped by around a third, but it’s now back to pre-pandemic levels; sadly, some of the freelance musicians we used to see regularly have taken other jobs and not returned. At least my father Johann managed to complete a new violin during that time, anyway, with a label that reads: ‘Johann Bartsch Coroniensis’!
The new workshop is 110 sq m, and we still have access to the old one, which you can see through the window. So in total we have 190 sq m, which includes the showroom where we keep most of our instruments. All four of us work in a line in front of the windows, and we all have our preferred chairs; I have the small wooden one, but as I spend as much time in the office as the workshop, perhaps it’s right for me to have the least comfortable seat!
Essen is a musical city with several orchestras, a music college and a high standard of amateur playing. For this reason, most of our work revolves around restoration and repair, but we still make the occasional new instrument as well.
The firm was founded 120 years ago on the other side of the road, but we moved into this building in 1974. Even now, we still get people coming in asking: ‘I had trouble finding you – last time I was here, you were on the other side!’ Maybe it’s a sign of how much our customers are inclined to come back – but at least they must have had a memorable experience last time!
INTERVIEW BY CHRISTIAN LLOYD