[Harp-L] Oldest harp factory for sale

[Snaruhn@xxxxxxx]

Hi all,

I´ve just learned that the oldest harp factory of the world, Seydel & Söhne
in Klingenthal, Germany, is bankruptcy. I´m from Germany and therefore, 
this report touches me, of course. Some details:

Seydel & Söhne was founded in 1849 = 10 years before Hohner started 
the harp production. Though Seydel & Söhne never could compete with 
Hohner the firm made excellent music instruments. Years ago I had the 
opportunity to visit the factory in Klingenthal, Saxony. One have to know 
that Saxony was a province of  the communistic governed East-Germany 
before the German reunification in 1990 with all the consequences of a 
totalitarian regime. 

When I visited the firm I was already busy in customizing chromatics 
and so I bought a 12-hole Seydel Chromatic de Luxe and took it apart 
to examine the construction. Huuuh, I felt compassion as a citizen of 
West-Germany to learn all these problems an East-German firm had to 
master during this dark time. 

The outer finish of the harp wasn´t bad but the constructional details of 
the model, comparable with Hohner´s former Chromonica II, revealed 
questionable economy measures. So, the reedplates were of course 
nailed and one nail simultaneously served as an axle for the slide spring.    
  
The chamber walls of the comb of peer wood were so thin that the plate 
nails had hardly place enough etc.

At my visit the firm, still working with machines driven by transmission 
belts!,
had 20 employees shrinking to 8 nowadays. 

                                             RIP Seydel & Söhne 

Siegfried