Karl Monday
Karl Montag (born March 1, 1917 in Völklingen ; † April 7, 1982 in Hanover ) was a German violin maker and painter .
Life
Karl Montag was very critical of National Socialism and was dismissed after six months after being drafted into the Wehrmacht due to corresponding statements. He then began studying fine arts with Professor Dörfel in Leipzig . During the war he earned his living as a pianist in a restaurant and painting. After the war, he had two failed marriages, each with a daughter.
In 1952 he moved to Wennebostel in Wedemark and later to Wennebostel-Wietze in a social housing made available by the community. During this time he began to make violins , he also made several inventions and was involved in the development of inventions, but without economic success. He made a living from painting, gave music lessons and did odd jobs. As one of 25 artists, he received financial support from the Deutsche Künstlerhilfe Foundation .
In 1974 Karl Montag moved to Warpe near Nienburg / Weser , where he perfected his skills and knowledge.
He died in Hanover in 1982 after having used the last months of his life to put his knowledge of violin making on paper for posterity.
Violin making
Only at the age of 40 years began Karl Monday, is self-taught the violin to devote. The main drive for this was his perfectionism and his striving to own a "master violin". He gained the necessary knowledge through books, through repair work on old violins and his own experiments.
Karl Montag owned a violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume , which was already a very famous French Stradivarius copy and which at the time had been artificially aged in the oven by the master during its manufacture, which had caused quite a stir among experts. However, this had the disadvantage that the instruments lost their attractive cream- like sound after a while . Karl Montag disassembled one of these violins, which had lost its value for the above reason, and studied the exact shape of the individual parts.
Through friends, Karl Montag came into contact with well-known violinists such as David Oistrach , Christian Ferras , Isaac Stern , Henrik Szeryng , Yehudi Menuhin , Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Erick Friedman . Some of their expert reports, for example Oistrakh wrote in 1971: “The violin sounds good, soft, even and strong enough; Playing on it is easy, pleasant, the tone is excellent and noble. I sincerely congratulate Mr. Montag on the result of his successful work. "
The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig compared the resonance curves of Stradivari and Montag violins, and found a high level of agreement.
Karl Montag made a total of 19 violins, the 20th remained unfinished. He worked on the first violin for seven years, each of the last took a year. He also made five violin bows .
estate
After his death, friends of Karl Montag founded the Karl Montag Society, which manages the estate and tries to locate all 19 violins and buy them back.
Many personal items, including tools, as well as paintings and documents are exhibited in the local museum of Bissendorf (Wedemark) .
On October 22, 2017, a concert took place on the occasion of Karl Montag's 100th birthday, at which four of his violins were played.
Individual proof
- ↑ Classical music on Karl Monday's 100th birthday ( Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of August 29, 2017, accessed on October 30, 2017)
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Monday, Karl |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German violin maker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 1, 1917 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Völklingen |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 7, 1982 |
| Place of death | Hanover |