# General Mandolin Topics > Vintage Instruments >  Museum of musical instruments - berlin

## Michael Wolf

Last weekend I visited the "Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin" and I thought I'd show some photos of things that I found very interesting. 
I hope you don't mind if I also show some things that are no Mandolins but worth to take a look at in my opinion.

The first instrument is the "Hamburger Chitrinchen". It's a small five course Cittern from 1702 made by Hinrich Kopp, Hamburg (Germany). What I found exciting was the fact that this is a archtop instrument. Though it isn't necessarily a carved top, maybe it has rather a induced arch, it has a unexpected intensive arch in my opinion.

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## Michael Wolf

here's the back side. Note that it has strap buttons.

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## Michael Wolf

sideview of the back:

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## Michael Wolf

Here's the sideview where you can see the arched top and back:

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## Michael Wolf

Front-side-view:

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## Michael Wolf

A closer look at the beautiful head:

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## JEStanek

How does it chop? Seriously, that is pretty darn cool looking. Those are all beautiful.

Jamie

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## Michael Wolf

The biggest disadvantage of the museum is that you can't hear them. You can hear CDs that they recorded with instruments of the collection, but mainly the bowed instruments and the keyboard-instruments. They told me that they don't have the capacities to keep all the instruments in playable condition.

Colascione, Italy 18. Century:

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## Michael Wolf

One more of the Colascione:

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## Michael Wolf

Lyra-Mandolin:

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## Michael Wolf

from the back:

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## Michael Wolf

Gutstring-Mandos from Milano:

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## Michael Wolf

Raffaele Calace, Neapel 1917:

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## Michael Wolf

Luigi Embergher, Rom 1908:

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## Michael Wolf

Theorbe or Bass-Lute with a moderately long neck:

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## Michael Wolf

Theorbe front:

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## Michael Wolf

Theorbe neck:

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## Michael Wolf

Theorbe neck back:

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## Eric Hanson

Michael, 
 Thanks for the pics. Pretty cool to see so many early examples of what led to the modern day mando.

Eric

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## Jim Garber

Get those Emberghers and Calaces and Monzinos out of those cases and into good players hands. 

Do they have concerts on these instruments?

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## brunello97

Jim, we've been going to the museum off an on for a long time when in town to see the folks, back to before the Potsdamer Platz renovation. (Alas,I met my wife post '89.) # I keep asking if I can try things out, but the 'rube from Texas' act only goes so far. #Sooner or later somebody will give in. #We've seen period instrument performances at the Kammermusiksaal next door. # I know they dust things off for performances now and then, but where, what, when.....? #Here is a link to their schedule:

http://www.sim.spk-berlin.de/veranstaltungen_8.html

The old Kulturforum was a pretty great place, now dwarfed a bit by the brusqueness of the new Potsdamer Platz development (Renzo Piano's Marlene Dietrich platz not withstanding.) I fell for Hans Scharoun's architecture around the same time as I did the mandolin. # An amazing complex of buildings (check the library scene in 'Wings of Desire".) # #Summertime in Berlin is pretty great.

Thanks, Al for all the pictures. #(Got more?) The Colascione reminds me of my charango. #Probably smells better.

Mick

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## MLT

What great pictures! I lived in Berlin from '81-'84, met my wife there and my son was born there. I went back last in '99 and would love to go back again--And this time visit this Museum.

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## Michael Wolf

Thanks for looking. Unfortunately they don't have the plucked instruments ready to be played. They told me that they put out some of the Violins when professionell groups are there to perform on authentic instruments. They have some master instruments from Cremona as well as from the northern Alps. In the museum you can hear the keyboard instruments. And they have the big Wurlitzer Organ that's played from time to time. It's to big to take a photo.

This is the man who's answering questions and is playing something for you when you ask him. He fits very well into the period of his instruments. He can also play bowed instruments and would rather take them out of the vitrine.

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## Michael Wolf

Speaking of Wurlitzer:

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## Michael Wolf

This is not the big one.

Nice Keyboard:

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## Jim Garber

We should get some of our virtuoso friends in Germany to offer to do a concert on some of those instruments. Caterina? Gertrud? Annika?

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## BBarton

Wonderful images -- looks like a fascinating place to spend a few hours! 'Not sure where you're located, but have you visited the National Music Museum on the USD campus in Vermillion, South Dakota? Similar types of displays - not a huge lot of mandolins (but has 1 of 2 known Strad mandos), but fabulous European (incl. Cremona) stringed instrument collections and excellent guitar gallery centered around D'Angelico and other US makers.

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## Charles E.

There is the bell shape that Lyon and Healy used! And check out tha Baroque bridge.

Charley

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## Jason Kessler

Fascinating pix. Thanks for posting them.

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## Michael Wolf

Thanks for the interest. I still have some pictures that I'd like to show here.

Here's another Theorbe:

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## Michael Wolf

This instrument got a new top. On the right you can see the original one.

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## Michael Wolf

And this is the top-bracing:

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## Michael Wolf

Theorbe case made from leather:

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## JeffD

Beautiful stuff!

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## mrmando

There are similar museums in Copenhagen and Venice should you wish to put together a tour.

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## Martin Jonas

> There are similar museums in Copenhagen and Venice should you wish to put together a tour.


Also in Markneukirchen in Saxony. Not to mention the sizable musical instruments department at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, with many mandolin, cittern and lute-type instruments.

Martin

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## brunello97

Here's a link to the Saxon museum:

http://www.museum-markneukirchen.de/start.htm

We drive up through that way on the Augsburg-Berlin family circuit fairly often. This looks like a great place to stop (and get me off the autobahn.)

Mick

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## Rick Schmidlin

Great shots, if you have a chance got the German National Museum in Nurnberg where you will find more delights.

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## Eugene

> Originally Posted by  (mrmando @ April 22 2008, 17:09)
> 
> There are similar museums in Copenhagen and Venice should you wish to put together a tour.
> 
> 
> Also in Markneukirchen in Saxony. Not to mention the sizable musical instruments department at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, with many mandolin, cittern and lute-type instruments.


...And Paris, soon to be in Nice, etc, etc.

The Berlin museum also holds some lovely, mid-18th-c., 6-course mandolini by Brambilla and Smorsone.

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## brunello97

Nice, you say, Eugene? One of my favorite cities. Do you have any further information on this?

Mick

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## Eugene

As a bona fide amateur musician, I feel like the luckiest boy in the world to get to contribute to music in the small way that I sometimes get to do. The new curator at Nice came to Alison Stephens for some advice, and she referred him to me. I've been advising them on artists and representative recordings of the various historic mandolins (and, in a more peripheral way, citterns) in the collection. It is scheduled to open to the public in 2009. I'll e-mail you an AMIS newsletter with a short entry on the Nice museum, Mick.

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## brunello97

Eugene, unfortunately the word amateur has grown to take on a disparaging connotation in contemporary culture. But I know you to be wise enough to understand its true meaning, and believe you to be an amateur musician in the truest and most wonderful sense. What a pleasurable project to be a part of. (Thanks for the Nice link up.)

Mick

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## Rick Schmidlin

> Originally Posted by  (martinjonas @ May 01 2008, 07:54)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by  (mrmando @ April 22 2008, 17:09)
> 
> ...


Also Florence, Italy

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## Jim Williamson

Quote (mrmando @ April 22 2008, 17:09)
'There are similar museums in Copenhagen and Venice should you wish to put together a tour.'

Does anyone know where the one in Venice is now? The two sites I knew are respectively a mask shop and a performance room. The desk attendant this week at the latter - the Ateneo close to the Torre del Orologio at San Marco knew nothing about any museum and my local friends didn't think one now existed.

 I'd like to check it out at the end of May if it is still extant.

Jim

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## Cary Fagan

Thank you for posting the photos. I visited the museum as the last thing I did on a trip to Berlin about 2 years ago. I was particularly taken with the "pocket" violins and couldn't help wondering how they sounded.

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## Michael Wolf

Yes, les Pochettes. I really liked them, too. I never saw them before. By chance I have some photos.

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## Michael Wolf

Pochette avec etui

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## Michael Wolf

another Pochette

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## Michael Wolf

This is a "Brettgeige". In English maybe a Plankfiddle?

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## Michael Wolf

Here you can see the body depth better.

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## brunello97

On a scary note, a fire at the Berlin Philharmonie just down the way. Interesting note about the crew going back in after instruments. What a real shame, such a great great place.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/wo...html?ref=world

Mick

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