Caspar Hopf

Caspar Hopf (* 1650 , probably in Graslitz ; † August 21, 1711 in Stolberg (Harz) ; also: Caspar Hopff ) is considered to be the first violin maker from Klingenthal in the Saxon Vogtland .

Life

Caspar Hopf's ancestors came from Hamburg to the Bohemian town of Graslitz (today: Kraslice) at the beginning of the 17th century, presumably to look for work in the mining industry. His father Christoph was one of the numerous Protestants who moved with their families around 1650 from Graslitz to Klingenthal in nearby Saxony and settled in the newly emerging town of Quittenbach . The exiles left Bohemia because of repression in the course of the Counter Reformation .

It is not known where Caspar Hopf, probably the first violin maker in his family, was trained. In 1669 his name was mentioned among the founding members of the Graslitz violin makers' guild, in 1677 he participated in the founding of the Markneukirchen guild .

He played an important role in the Markneukirchen guild and was their chief master several times. He did not shy away from conflicts and advocated the founding of his own Klingenthal violin makers' guild. Without having achieved this goal, he died on November 21, 1711 in Stolberg (Harz) on the trip to the Braunschweig trade fair . The Klingenthal guild was founded in 1716.

Beyond this data, Caspar Hopf's life is primarily documented through his works.

plant

Caspar Hopf's work had a fundamental influence on violin making in the Vogtland region, not only within the extensive dynasty of violin makers that followed him.

He created an independent violin model that can be recognized primarily by its "angular" shape. The bright, yellow color of the paint was only developed with the work of his descendants David Christian Hopf sen. and jun. a “trademark”, but goes back to Caspar Hopf. Caspar Hopf's violins also have a strikingly curved top and a very flat bottom.

Most of the instruments known today and certainly assigned to Caspar Hopf are not signed. The typical "HOPF" brand mark was, as has been suspected in research, only added afterwards to real Caspar Hopf violins.

Individual evidence

↑ 42 Violin makers over eight generations are known to research, cf. Zoebisch: The violin makers of the Hopf family in Klingenthal (see literature )

literature

Bernhard Zoebisch: The violin makers of the Hopf family in Klingenthal. Michaelstein Monastery Foundation, Blankenburg 1999, ISBN 3-89512-070-7 .
Leo von Lütgendorff : The violin and lute makers from the Middle Ages to the present. 2 volumes. Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, Frankfurt am Main 1923 ( digitized version ). Unchanged reprint of the 6th, revised edition: Schneider, Tutzing 1975, ISBN 3-795-20061-X , with a supplement by Thomas Drescher, 1990, ISBN 3-795-20616-2 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Hopf, Caspar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hopff, Caspar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Saxon violin maker, co-founder of Klingenthal violin making
DATE OF BIRTH	1650
PLACE OF BIRTH	uncertain: Graslitz
DATE OF DEATH	August 21, 1711
Place of death	Stolberg (Harz)

[1] 42 Violin makers over eight generations are known to research, cf. Zoebisch: The violin makers of the Hopf family in Klingenthal (see literature )