‘The firm was founded 120 years ago’ - My Space: Florian Bartsch

Geigenbau Bartsch has been here in Essen, north-west Germany, since 1903, but we’ve only been based in this workshop for the past two and a half years. It’s a result of the pandemic: there used to be a gymnastics studio next door to the shop, but the business fell prey to the lockdowns and folded in 2020. Then the landlord asked if we’d like to take over the space, and after ten minutes of discussion we decided to do it. During Covid, our business dropped by around a third, but it’s now back to pre-pandemic levels; sadly, some of the freelance musicians we used to see regularly have taken other jobs and not returned. At least my father Johann managed to complete a new violin during that time, anyway, with a label that reads: ‘Johann Bartsch Coroniensis’!…