pU
Silver Member
Registered: 10/25/05
Posts: 235
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| #1 |
On a recent visit to Trossingen, I tried to capture a long gone era. Luck had it that many of the old buildings are still standing, unused & unaltered, telling the story of what was once the largest manufacturer of musical instruments. A few years ago, Hohner moved to a new building in the industrial area of Trossingen.
In that part of the factory, still in its original condition, the wooden body accordions like the Corona were produced.
Time stands still in this area
This is industrial architecture at its best
Being played here: the Hohner blues
Everything in the old factory had style even the lamps.
Imagine thousands of Coronas being produced here
The entrance to the wooden accordion production. Now a tree makes its home there.
The townhall of Trossingen
The Hohner Academy
Academy from the rear, connected to the factory
A telephone list from the seventies shows the names of workers, who otherwise remain nameless.
The directors, of the above Matth. Hohner jun. is still alive
At Hohner, everyone remained nameless, with the exception of Venanzio Morino & Giovanni Gola. These Italian accordion builders designed the top models of the Hohner line.
The Corona is at the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the line, so it was hard to get to the bottom of who designed it. As far as I could figure out, Elias Messner, son of Frank Hohner, was the director of the wooden accordion department, when the Corona was designed in the fifties.
The accordion production "Akkordeonfertigung" took place in two departments, wooden "Holzbauweise" & metal "Metallbauweise".
At the time of the list above, M. Ehler was the chief of "Akkordeonanfertigung", Waldemar Messner was head of the "Holzbauweise" & Hans Götz, head of the "Metallbauweise". Head of reed production, "Stimmplattenherstellung" was Herbert Kraft.
Back to the fifties: I asked Ernst Strom (born 1920), who worked in the design department, who could have designed the Corona. And, he told me that after the war, Hans Rappold (1889-1975) of Stuttgart was an important designer in the accordion department.
It proved to be difficult to get to the origin of the Corona.
During my time in Trossingen, I talked to Matthias Hohner jun.,
to the Haigis family (they worked for Hohner in Argentina),
to Eckart Kretschmann (he worked for Hohner in Chile),
to Helmut Ulrich, Jakob Schuler, Kurt Koch, Ernst Strom,
but none of them could name the "inventor" of the Corona.
It looks as if the Corona was designed by Elias Messner, and that Hans Rappold was responsible for the layout.
The old building
 [IMG][/IMG]
The entrance to the Hohner areal
The gate with a rusty accordion player emblem
The old rugged emblem
The power house
The steam engine made by Borsig
Jakob Schuler, the oldest Hohner worker in Trossingen. Born in 1911, he started to work at Hohner in 1924 and stayed for 52 years. He first worked in the mouth harp production and later became a specialist in register adjustment. He knew Venanzzio Morino and Giovanni Gola personally.
This is Jakob Schuler`s home. At the time of my visit in Trossingen most of the houses had been hit by a heavy weather, with ice as big as tennis balls which destroyed nearly all roofs in Trossingen.
The villa of Hohner founder Matthias Hohner
The "Wintergarten"
Across from the old factory building
A look through the floral Jugendstil window of the villa
This building shows what a revolutionary mind the founder, Mr. Matthias Hohner, even as an old man was. A building like this in rural Trossingen wasquite a novelty. The ornamental style of "Jugendstil" was as avantgarde as you could get.
Looking down from Hohner`s villa over to his factory.
Jugendstil at its best, Herr Hohner really had style
Kurt Koch started to work at Hohner in 1946. He worked in the metal style department of the factory. The best known metal body accordion is the "Atlantic". Now he leads visitors through the Harmonika museum.
The Harmonika museum
The new factory - a perfect example of "no style"
In case you´d like to go to Trossingen:
I stayed at Hotel Schoch, run by the Horakh family - every wednesday at 8 pm there´s a roundtable.
Eberhardtstrasse 20, 78647 Trossingen, Germany
0049 7425 940020 Fax 9400255
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Peter Unbehauen, Hamburg, Alemania
http://www.peterunbehauen.de/p |
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Karlitos_Way
Moderator
Registered: 03/09/05
Posts: 1,302
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| #2 |
Peter, Thanks for sharing these pix with us. I wonder if they ever thought the Corona II was going to be as popular as it was/is? Hard to believe this factory played to a huge roll in our music. Great to gaze into these pix and imagine the workers banging out a black '65 Corona II in F,Bb,Eb. Thanks again for sharing these.... -Karlos |
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magallon
Platinum Member
Registered: 05/15/06
Posts: 530
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JaimeFlores
Moderator
Registered: 03/09/05
Posts: 659
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| #4 |
Thanks, Great pictures , its a pleasure know all the Historic Buildings, I wish to go to Germany to know This beautiful places. Greetings Your Friend Jaime from Reynosa Mexico |
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Rico
Registered: 04/02/06
Posts: 36
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| #5 |
Peter: I see your love and intellect for music and the button accordion through these pictures. These pictures show up the pride and the nostalgia of the past. Some day our grandchildren will have pictures of our accordions in extinction, and explaining what they were and did. Keep up the good work, your a main contributor to this forum.
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alfredol
Silver Member
Registered: 04/24/06
Posts: 254
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| #6 |
Many Thanks for posting the pictures and descriptions. I realy enjoyed them. Alfredo
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LoneStar
Moderator
Registered: 05/27/06
Posts: 2,813
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| #7 |
Very Nice indeed !!! Man, the architecture was awesome, sort of looks like New Braunfels, Texas a very historic German town in the Heart of Texas. Thanks, for your long hard quest to find the origin of the mastermind who designed such a beautiful masterpiece, that we all know and love, as the Corona II. By the way, did you here many Corona II or accordions being played there in the Town? Thanks, for your Invaluable Efforts, and Participation here at ReyesAccordions.com!!!! Take Care, Amigo
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Viva la Musica de Bajo y Acordeon!
Keep on Squeezing the BOX!!! |
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ConjuntoFan
Platinum Member
Registered: 03/09/05
Posts: 641
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| #8 |
Very interesting pictures. I enjoyed Germany and the rest of Europe while I was stationed there with the military for several years. Seeing the pictures made me wonder how many Hohner accordions one would find sitting in people's closets in that little town...
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Tony Avitua
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pU
Silver Member
Registered: 10/25/05
Posts: 235
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| #9 |
During my conversations in Trossingen one name always popped up, that of Elias Messner, head of the accordion construction in the fifties.
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Peter Unbehauen, Hamburg, Alemania
http://www.peterunbehauen.de/p |
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otono
Elite Member
Registered: 08/11/05
Posts: 1,061
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| #10 |
Amazing history in those pictures! Thanks to Glenn and Peter for sharing.
Tony, as for the accordions sitting in people's closets over there... I'd vote Glenn as most likely to resurrect those boxes and put them back into general circulation. 
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rigo
Platinum Member
Registered: 03/09/05
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pU
Silver Member
Registered: 10/25/05
Posts: 235
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| #12 |
One part of the Harmonika Museum of Trosingen is on tour
travelling exhibition
schedule 2006
2. Presentation at the SPAH convention
September 9- Sept. 22 Beaverton
3. Presentation at the library of Beaverton
September 28– October 11
Superior
4. Presentation at the private museum “A world of Accordion”
October 13 –November 14
Chicago, WI
5. Presentation at the DANK Museum, German American Society Chicago
November 17 or 18 – November 28
Atlanta
6. Presentation at the Goethe Institution by “The friends of Goethe”
December 1 or 2 – December 16
Cape Coral, FL
7. Presentation at the library of the district of Fort Myers
The web site of the museum
http://www.harmonika-museum.de
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Peter Unbehauen, Hamburg, Alemania
http://www.peterunbehauen.de/p |
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pU
Silver Member
Registered: 10/25/05
Posts: 235
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| #13 |
To give you an idea where accordion manufacturies are located, here´s a Google earth photo of Europe.
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Peter Unbehauen, Hamburg, Alemania
http://www.peterunbehauen.de/p |
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pU
Silver Member
Registered: 10/25/05
Posts: 235
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bigdre
Platinum Member
Registered: 02/02/07
Posts: 705
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| #15 |
Thanks for the pics. I'm going to Germany in July. Where in Berlin can I check out some boxes. Im going on a tour I'll be landing in Berlin and leaving the next morning.I'm going to Czeck republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, and Slovania I think. I'll be back in Berlin like in two weeks to end my tour there. Let me know what to expect.
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CHALE!!
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pU
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Registered: 10/25/05
Posts: 235
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RanchStyleRock
Platinum Member
Registered: 04/18/06
Posts: 650
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| #17 |
Peter, I would like to thank you for taking the time to post all those photos and information for all of us to read and enjoy. Its amazing to think that whole new genres of music were inspired by such a simple, durable, and eduring timeless design. The Hohners out-did themselves in my opinion.
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pU
Silver Member
Registered: 10/25/05
Posts: 235
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Julloa
Registered: 10/09/09
Posts: 3
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| #19 |
This is fantastic! Does anyone know if a "history of Hohner" has been written?
Thanks,
John Ulloa |
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peterg
Registered: 05/03/07
Posts: 8
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| #20 |
thanks so much for the photo tour of
the home of the Corona
amazing that the buildings stand unused
the history really comes through in your
pictures- impressive detective work!! |
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