Siegfried Finkel (1927-2010) was a German born Swiss master bowmaker or bogenmacher.

Biography

Siegfried Finkel was born in Koningsberg in 1927. After

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he came to

Markneukirchen Markneukirchen () is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany, close to the Czech Republic, Czech border. It lies in the Elster Mountains (part of the Fichtel Mountains), southeast of Plauen, and northeast of Aš (Czech Republic) ...

to learn bow-making and apprenticed with

Paul Weidhaas Paul Weidhaas (1894–1962) was a German Master bowmaker or ''bogenmacher''. Biography Paul Weidhaas learned bow making from his father Ewald Weidhaas, in Markneukirchen. He then worked for E. Liebich in Breslau from 1911 to 1913 and then for Win ...

, who soon became his father-in-law. After completing his apprenticeship became Weidhaas's associate. Siegfried also met Weidhaas's daughter Hanna, fell in love, and married. Their son

Johannes Siegfried Finkel Johannes Siegfried Finkel (1947) is a German born Swiss master bowmaker or bogenmacher. Biography Johannes Siegfried Finkel was born in Markneukirchen in 1947 to Siegfried Finkel and Hanna Weidhaas. In 1952, he and his family moved to Schwanden, ...

was born in 1947. In 1952, Siegfried moved to Schwanden, Switzerland where he joined Brienz Bogen AG, which had been co-founded by Adolf König and Carl Willy Hoyer in 1947. After Hoyer’s passing in 1955, Siegfried took over the firm, renaming it ‘ Brienz Bogenwerkstätte AG’, which he managed very successfully until his retirement in 1984. At which point his son Johannes took charge of the family business and carried on the Weidhaas-Finkel dynasty. Siegfried Finkel combined the best of French and German styles of bow making. He made many bows of superb quality during his lengthy career. Upon his retirement, he passed his workshop to his son, Johannes Siegfried Finkel. In his early career, he supplied bows to

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

’s in New York branded ‘REMBERT WURLITZER N.Y.’. Siegfried also supplied bows to Vidoudez of Geneva, Jacques Français and Kenneth Warren. The Finkel shop employed up to eight bow makers throughout Siegfried’s tenure. They included Werner Ernst, Jac Flück, Jean Claude Ouchard, Christian Hans-Karl Schmidt and Rudolf Neudörfer. Siegfried Finkel was considered one of the outstanding makers of his day.Deutsche Bogenmacher-German Bow Makers Klaus Grunke, Hans Karl Schmidt, Wolfgang Zunterer 2000

References

Sources

*Five by Five (Five generations of Weidhaas/Finkel dynasty) by Gennady Filimonov The Strad magazine December 2024 p.54-p.59 * Die Geigen und Lautenmacher - by Lutgendorff, Frankfurt 1922 *Encyclopedia of the Violin - Alberto Bachmann * * * *Deutsche Bogenmacher-German Bow Makers Klaus Grunke, Hans Karl Schmidt, Wolfgang Zunterer 2000 *https://www.finkel-bows.ch/en/history/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Finkel, Siegfried 1927 births 2010 deaths Bow makers German luthiers Swiss luthiers People from Markneukirchen