1 mins
MARIUS LAUFER & CHRISTIAN KLEIN
MAIN PHOTO T. BALZER-RIESEN. OTHER PHOTOS ALEXEY TESTOV
A peek into lutherie workshops around the world
LUTHIERS
LOCATION Landshut, Germany
We’ve been working together in Landshut, about 40 miles north-east of Munich, since 2019. Before that, Marius worked in Vienna with the luthier Wilfried Ramsaier-Gorbach, who repaired instruments for the Vienna Philharmonic. He moved to Landshut in 2009 to open his own workshop. Christian, meanwhile, worked for the Roderich Paesold firm of instrument and bow making. As we were both based in Landshut, we knew each other and one day, over a good cup of coffee (very important in our workshop) we decided to go into business together.
The workshop is around 60 sq m and has gone through a lot of changes in the past three years. During the lockdown of 2021, we decided to rebuild it from the ground up, taking on nearly all the renovation work ourselves – with the help of skilled craftspeople who also happened to be our friends. We designed and installed acoustic absorbers and a recording system in a 40 sq m space directly adjoining the workshop, so that we could offer musicians a place to play, compare, and record. Our furniture in this room is on wheels so that we can host concerts and rehearsals there. We also have a seating area with a small play corner for children, so we can welcome very young musicians as well.
We extended our space again in 2023 by adding three additional rooms, all 60 sq m, on the first floor of the building. Now we can carry out woodworking downstairs and handle varnishing and bow-related activities upstairs, where we can keep things dust-free. The first floor also contains a storage and packing space for instruments. We also have a permanent exhibition of contemporary makers’ work, and we love allowing musicians to come in and compare the instruments. We find equal excitement in witnessing the skill and artistry of our international fellow violin making colleagues.