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Elias Placht: how one man founded the violin making tradition of Schönbach

2024-02-07T09:31:00

2_Bubenreuth_Denkmal fuer Elias Placht

By the early 20th century, the town of Schönbach was producing tens of thousands of violins per year – but the industry began with just one man. Christian Hoyer sifts through the records to reveal the life and legacy of Elias Placht

The year 2023 marked 300 years since the first documented mention of violin making in Schönbach. The town, now called Luby and part of the Czech Republic, was the first centre of violin making in Bohemia, and the most successful with around 150,000 violins being produced annually in the early 20th century…

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