Christian Messner
Christian Messner (born November 1, 1805 ; † December 13, 1874 ) was the founder of harmonica production in Trossingen in 1832 .
Christian Messner, known as the “stuff Christian”, was a cloth maker and weaver like his father. He learned to play the violin, but did not have the money to buy a violin. He could therefore only play his teacher's violin when he was being taught.
His neighbor, known as the Uhrmännle von Trossingen , was one of several watch dealers who went on a hike in the spring to sell the watches produced in the winter on their journeys by "peddling". These traveling traders came around a lot, including Switzerland, Tyrol and Vienna. In Vienna, the Uhrenmännle bought a harmonica as a souvenir for his daughter Anna. Christian Messner was friends with Anna, who exchanged the harmonica for him for a kiss in 1830. Both affectionately called their harmonica the "Viennese". Christian Messner was able to play soon after.
Messner played the little instrument until the reeds broke. In order not to have to do without the new way of making music, he wanted to recreate the instrument. The procurement of the raw material was already a problem in Trossingen at that time. There was enough wood for the pulpits. For the reed plates he wanted to use a tin plate from his mother and for the reeds and rivets he wanted to use brass wire that he got from his neighbor, the watchmaker. He also borrowed the hand tools from the watchmaker, since he and his father, as cloth makers, did not have the appropriate tools. Christian's father was not enthusiastic about this idea and forbade him to do handicrafts. So he went on in secret. He hammered the reeds out of brass wire, with perseverance cut slots in the tin plates through which the reeds had to swing precisely. When he finally finished, his violin teacher helped him tune. So the first harmonica was created in Trossingen as a copy of a Viennese instrument by a trained cloth maker.
In Trossingen the harmonica soon became known as the mouth harp. Messner was successful with the replica, the first customers ordered instruments from him. Encouraged by this, he gave up the kit-making business in 1832 and set up a workshop for the manufacture of harmonicas. Messner's father was now also convinced of the new job and let his second son learn "harp-making". Both brothers subsequently worked together, improved the instruments and sold them on a joint account to the neighborhood and to traveling watch dealers. They took the harmonicas with them to distant places and ensured brisk sales. As production increased, so did earnings. Until 1840 the two brothers worked alone. Then they took in other young relatives and trained them as apprentices. These then worked as homeworkers in their own apartments with materials and tools provided by the Messners. Among the apprentices was the nephew Christian Weiß, who started work in 1847 and separated from the Messner brothers in 1855 in order to set up his own company.
Other companies in Trossingen
- 1855 Christian Weiß founded the “Württ. Harmonikafabrik Ch. WEISS "
- In 1857, the clockmaker Matthias Hohner (* December 12, 1833, † December 11, 1902) began manufacturing harmonica in his home. He founded the Hohner company .
- Jakob Birk - Christian Weiss's brother-in-law
- Christian Kratt
- John Irion
- Johannes Strom
- Christian Bilger
- Andreas Koch
literature
- Hartmut Berghoff : Between small town and world market. Hohner and the harmonica 1857-1961. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1997, ISBN 3-506-70785-X
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Messner, Christian |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German cloth maker and harmonica manufacturer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 1, 1805 |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 13, 1874 |