Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: The Czech Tradition

  1. The Czech Tradition

    Before WW2, Czechoslovakia, more particularly the city of Kraslice (Graslitz in German), was known for its good, reliable instruments. After WW2, all the factories that produced brass instruments were either bombed or converted into weapon plants. Also, all people of German descent were driven out of the socialist Czechoslovakia. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all the great Czech craftsmen were of German descent. Despite it's end in the early 1990's, the socialist government took its toll on craftsmanship and overall product consistency in brass instruments. Because of all this, Czech instruments aren't what they used to be. However, I have high hopes for the Czechs. So, I'm asking for your opinions on this subject. Do you think Czech-made instruments will ever reach pre-WW2 quality again?

  2. The Czech Tradition

    Interesting question. Here's a rambling, not exactly information-packed response.

    I first became aware of the Sudetanland/Czech wind instrument industry back in the late 60's when the tubists in our high school band auditioned several instruments for purchase and decided they preferred a model from Ziess (odd spelling, but correct, I believe), a Czech label. After a long wait for delivery, the school system's music coordinator brought them over to the school and told our band director, "I hate to tell you this, but there was a little uprising over there, and these tubas apparently got caught in the crossfire. But I think they'll play all right in spite of the bullet holes ... " The look on my director's face was priceless.

    I too have wondered if the Czech industry can ever recover. It would be interesting to contrast its efforts against those of the instrument industry in the Vogtland area of former East Germany (Markneukirchen/Klingenthal), which also had a long tradition prior to the bad old iron curtain days. That area has re-developed into an important center for instrument manufacture, both winds and strings. This particular renaissance was no doubt helped along by the post-1990 development of vocational programs in the local Berufsbildende Schulen -- the rigorous, well-funded trade schools that comprise one arm of the German secondary school system -- programs specifically designed capture old skills and to promote new experimentation in instrument manufacturing. Whether the Czech Republic has a similar initiative going is unknown to me.

    Perhaps there are some papers or dissertations out there in the literature that would provide some answers. In general, there is an ongoing bonanza in research regarding anything and everything connected to social, political, intellectual or industrial activity in the former iron curtain regions. As I was in grad school in the early 90's, my major professor constantly reminded us, "there are dissertation topics lying around on the streets, waiting to be picked up."

    Perhaps some of you contributors who live near a decent research library can dig into this ... how about it, Dave, Felix, John, Scott ... ?




  3. The Czech Tradition

    I too will chime in with no information. But just a comment.

    My Czech made Baritone made in the early 1920s is one of my favorite little horns. Its very solid and plays quite nice (for a small horn).

  4. The Czech Tradition

    Since my first rambling response I did a little web research and can add a few statements that are slightly more informed, perhaps even somewhat correct.

    Obviously, I invite any well-informed European nationals reading this to add comments, corrections, and criticism.

    The Kraslice region's tradition of instrument-building goes back several centuries. A major watershed-point came some 250 years ago, when bohemian Protestants fleeing persecution took refuge in the neighboring Vogtland. The many craftsmen among them continued their trade in their new home.

    A very significant instrument industry remained nevertheless in Bohemia, and thrived until the first world war. A few makers managed to produce instruments ranging from average to excellent right up to 1989. One notable product was (and still is) the Petrof line of pianos.

    By 1910, by some accounts, manufacturers in the Vogtland area of Germany, still driven by its bohemian roots, supplied 80% of the orchestral instruments to world markets. Their export created considerable fortunes, and the Markneukirchen/Klingenthal area reportedly had the highest proportion of millionaires in German-speaking Europe. There was even a U.S. Consulate in Markneukirchen to represent American interests in the industry.

    At some point in history, evidently the Germanic producers came to overshadow the Czech/Bohemian producers.

    The sources I have read make it sound like the fame of the Vogtland area rested primarily on stringed instruments and accordions, less so on wind instruments. Perhaps deeper inquiry would indicate otherwise.

    The back-to-back world wars were the primary cause of the devastation of the industries. As StickyValves surmises, the level-it-off-at-mediocrity socialist takeover did further damage over four decades.

    After the big turnaround in 1989, even the well-meaning "West" German government, through its Treuhand institution, further damaged the remnants of the "East" German instrument industry, causing considerable despair among those attempting to raise the industry from the ashes. Around 1995, a determined group of craftsmen and business types formed an organization which they dubbed "Musicon Valley" and began to seek appropriate government subsidies and private investment. Since then, the organization has branched out beyond finance and marketing, and now also promotes research and development. Tremendous progress has been made in the past 13 years or so.

    I referred, somewhat erroneously, to Berufsbildende Schulen as a driving factor in the new industry. A brief look at the course offerings of such schools in the area did not turn up the instrument-building content I referred to; rather, the best-known such initiative is from the Fachhochschule in Zwickau, which has a rigorous diploma program in stringed-instrument building. This program is housed in a beautiful old Jugendstil Villa in, you guessed it, Markneukirchen.

    I have some sources I can ask for more info about training programs for wind-instrument building. There MUST be some programs out there ... it would be most un-German if there were not.

    I could swear I read somewhere that some well-known "western" brass instrument producers are using components produced in the Czech Republic. Can anyone verify that?

    Getting back to what StickyValves asked about ... it was not as easy to find info on the current health and future prospects of the Czech industry. Most likely reasons would be (1.) my limitations as a researcher and (2.) the failure of the Czechs to churn out more PR about themselves. But it seems quite clear that the Vogtland instrument output of today owes much of its excellence to its Bohemian roots.




Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •