Höfner (musical instruments)
| Hofner
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| legal form | GmbH & Co. KG |
| founding | 1887 |
| Seat | Baiersdorf , Germany |
| Branch | Musical instrument making |
| Website | www.hofner-guitars.com |
The Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German company manufactures the Stringed Instruments.
history
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The company was founded in December 1887 by the guitar and violin maker Karl Höfner and was based in Schönbach (now Luby in the Czech Republic ). At the beginning of the 20th century, the company rose to become the largest manufacturer of bowed and plucked instruments in the German-speaking region and has been internationally known ever since.
Karl Höfner's sons, Josef and Walter, joined the company in 1919 and 1921. In the 1910s and 1920s, the acoustic guitar ( concert guitar ) was added to the production portfolio. Höfner GmbH became the market leader in this sector . In 1937 the company already had around 337 employees. As a result of the Second World War and the expulsion from the Sudetenland , the company's headquarters were relocated to Bubenreuth in Bavaria in 1950 .
In the mid-1950s, the idea of a semi-resonance electric bass was implemented. This bass, which has been produced by Höfner under the model name Höfner 500/1 up to the present, became known under the unofficial nickname Beatle- Bass because Paul McCartney played on this Höfner model and still plays it today. This instrument made Höfner GmbH one of the most popular manufacturers of electric basses. (The shape has occasionally been compared with the Gibson "violin bass" EB-1; however, this is built completely differently as a solid wood instrument .)
After the family company Höfner was incorporated into the Boosey & Hawkes Group in 1994, a traditional British company that was active in both the field of music marketing and instrument construction, large sums were invested in the modernization of production technology at Höfner. In 1997, the branch in neighboring Hagenau , which had existed since 1964, was expanded with a new building and the company's headquarters were moved there from Bubenreuth.
Gerhilde Höfner, married Benker, joined the company in 1957; likewise in 1963 her husband Christian Benker and both managed the company. In 1982 her daughter Birgitt Lichthardt also joined the company.
In 2003 Höfner GmbH was taken over by The Music Group when the Boosey & Hawkes Group parted with the instrument making division. In 2004, Höfner became an independent family company again as the company Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG by way of a management buyout under the management of Klaus Schöller and Ulrike Schrimpff.
In addition to the models built by Höfner in Germany, there are now very inexpensive Höfner guitars and bass guitars that are made in China (HCT series) and Indonesia (Ignition series). All instruments keep their names, except for the Verithin electric guitar, which is marketed as Verythin.
literature
- Press information on the Karl Höfner company. In: Guitar & Laute 10, 1988, 2, p. 27
