Walter Hamma

Walter Hamma (born September 22, 1916 in Stuttgart ; † August 11, 1988 there ) was a German violin maker .

Live and act

Walter Hamma, son of the violin maker Fridolin Hamma, attended the violin making school in Mittenwald from 1933 to 1935 . He then worked for Ferdinand Jaura (1892–1976) in Vienna and later for Caressa & Français in Paris . During the Second World War, his father's violin making business in Stuttgart was completely destroyed. After the war, father and son rebuilt it together. In 1948 Walter Hamma passed the master craftsman's examination in Stuttgart and in 1959 took over the business at Herdweg 58 in Stuttgart.

The Hamma company was one of the leading addresses for high-quality string instruments in Germany and Europe for many years . Walter Hamma was president of the international violin makers association EILA (Entente Internationale des Maîtres Luthiers et Archetiers d'Art) from 1963 to 1965. He was considered a leading German expert, his books on Italian and German violin making, which were published in three languages, are still important standard works of violin making today. In 1982 Walter Hamma retired and the family company Hamma u. Co. ("Greatest plot in old master instruments") was dissolved.

Honors

• 1980: Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1986: Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany

swell

• Willibald Leo Frh. Lütgendorff: The violin and lute makers from the Middle Ages to the present day, (supplementary volume created by Thomas Drescher)