Why in Brienz?
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nBrienz has a long and venerable woodcarving tradition. Initially, wood- carving mainly served to manufacture utensils. Once the tourism industry started to boom in the first half of the 19th century, the production of souvenirs and objects of art developed into a vital business sector. Around 1880, approx. 2\u2018000 woodcarvers are believed to have worked in the Berner Oberland region. The Schnitzlerschule, today\u2018s School for Wood Carving, was established in Brienz in 1884.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Un-vieux-sculpteur-sur-bois-de-la-region-de-Brienz-fabrique-des-couverts-a-salade-autour-de-1900-photo-Ecole-de-sculpture-sur-bois-de-Brienz-80x116.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Intagliatore della regione di Brienz che realizza insalatiere, 1900 circa – Immagine: Schule f\u00fcr Holzbildhauerei Brienz\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n
During the times of crisis in the first half of the 20th century, the tourism industry in the Alpine region collapsed. Many woodcarvers were unemp- loyed. Given this background, the initiators of the School of Violin Making believed that adding a complementary artisanal industry to the existing woodcarving industry in Brienz would offer new potential for the region. Their idea was to give unemployed woodcarvers the opportunity to earn additional income by training them to produce accessories for the manu- facture of string and plucked instruments, as well as training up violin makers in Brienz. However, this plan never materialised in the envisaged form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Prof.Dr_.-Heinrich-Hanselmann-150x150.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Prof. Dr. Heinrich Hanselmann\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Conseil-dEtat-Dr.-Max-Gafner-photo-Archives-dEtat-du-canton-de-Berne--e1676313431831-150x150.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Dr. Max Gafner\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\nEstablishment<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Swiss School of Violin Making owes its existence to the initiative of two gentlemen from very different backgrounds.
\nProf. Dr. Heinrich Hanselmann, Professor for Remedial Education at the University of Zurich, music lover and owner of a collection of over 200 Swiss violins, was passionate about \u00abthe encouragement of violin playing and the cultivation of music at home\u00bb. By contrast, the Bern-based Government Councillor and Director of Economic Affairs Dr. Max Gafner focused on \u00abcreating and safeguarding the Swiss sales industry\u00bb. Together they set up the \u00abAssociation of friends of the Swiss violin\u00bb in 1943. Among the association\u2019s aims was the establishment of a school of violin making.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Premier-emplacement-de-lEcole-de-Lutherie-150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Prima sede della scuola di liuteria a Kirchb\u00fchl Brienz, anni ’40\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Travailler-a-lecole-de-lutherie-150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Umzug-150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Trasferirsi allo “Schn\u00e4tzi”, 1952\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Annees-1970-sous-sol-de-la-Schnitzlerschule--150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n anni ’70 nel seminterrato dello “Schn\u00e4tzi\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n1944 – Opening <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTeaching started on 1 July 1944. The early phase of the School of Violin Making was dominated by precarious circumstances, involving very basic working conditions and a bleak financial situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
1952 – Relocation to \u00abSchna\u0308tzi\u00bb school
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProspects improved in the 1950s when the School was brought under government control. It becomes a department of the \u00abSchnitzlerschule\u00bb (today’s school of wood sculpture).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/En-tete-de-lettre-Centrale-de-mise-en-place-de-nouvelles-industries--300x142.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Intestazione “Ufficio centrale per l’introduzione di nuove industrie”.\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\nIntroduction of new industries<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAgainst the background of the economic crisis in the pre-war and inter-war years, Switzerland was working to step up regional development strategies. Economic stimuli were needed in particular in the more disadvantaged regions. Following the example of the Canton of St. Gallen, the Executive Council of Bern decided to establish a \u00abCentral authority for the introduction of new industries\u00bb in 1932. The mid-1930s already saw a number of success stories, among them the siting of a General Motors factory in Biel in 1935.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
On the initiative of Councillor Dr. Max Gafner, the economic development scheme in Bern adopted an ambitious plan in 1946 that involved the establishment of an instrument making industry in Brienz. The idea was to attract the renowned family enterprise H\u00f6fner from the west Bohemian town of Sch\u00f6nbach (today Luby\/ Czech Republiv), which specialised in producing string and plucked instruments based on a collaborative approach, to Switzerland. After the war, H\u00f6fner had been nationalised and placed under the administration of the Czech socialist government. The former owner and his staff were eager to leave the country. Engineer Strauss, the head of the Biel authority for the introduction of new industries, travelled incognito to Sch\u00f6nbach and contacted Josef H\u00f6fner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Atelier-dun-sculpteur-sur-bois-specialise-dans-les-chevilliers-a-Schoenbach-photo-de-lIng.-Strauss-a-loccasion-de-son-voyage-a-Schoenbach--150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Studio di un intagliatore di lumache a Sch\u00f6nbach – Foto: Ing. Strauss in occasione del suo viaggio a Sch\u00f6nbach 1946\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n <\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe plan was to establish H\u00f6fner and his staff in Brienz and the surrounding region. Up to 680 skilled workers and their families were to be settled in the area.
\nHowever, neither the \u00abFriends of the Swiss violin\u00bb nor the immigration authority in Brienz had imagined a project on this scale. There was massive resistance, especially among Swiss violin makers, against bringing such formidable competition into the country.<\/p>\n
For the time being, the project was delayed. In 1948, while the instrument makers from Sch\u00f6nbach languished in reception camps in Bavaria, negotiations restarted. Reduced to 24 families, then to 3, the project was dropped altogether in the end.<\/p>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Finkel-e1676317350643-150x119.png\")
\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMeanwhile Brienz had put the project on ice, with one exception: the \u00abFinkel Bogenwerkst\u00e4tte\u00bb (Finkel Bows), a company from Markneukirchen in East Germany, moved to Brienz in the early 1950s. Located at Bogenweg 4 in Schwanden near Brienz, the company has been producing premium bows for the international market ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n1982 – Current location<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
In 1982, the School of Violin Making moved to its present site. The building was renovated and received an extension which from then on housed the training workshop.<\/p>\n
\n\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Ulrich-Walter-Zimmermann-et-Adolf-Koenig-devant-le-nouveau-batiment-de-lecole-150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Ulrich Walter Zimmermann e Adolf K\u00f6nig davanti al nuovo edificio scolastico 1982\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Sauvez-lEcole-de-Lutherie-Brienz-creation_Eugen-Bachmann-Geiser--150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Poster: Salviamo la scuola di liuteria, Design: Eugen Bachmann-Geiser\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n <\/p>\n
Savings and private initiatives<\/h4>\n
The Canton of Bern was not immune to the Swiss real estate crisis and the recession of the 1990s. Like other authorities, the Bern education department was asked to come up with suggestions for savings. An extensive study was commissioned. According to the result of the \u00abinvestigation\u00bb of several schools \u00abwith supra-regional importance\u00bb, the continuance of the School for Violin Making was \u00abno longer considered expedient\u00bb on economic grounds.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\nDespite widespread protest, a closing order was issued in May 1996, decreeing that the School be closed in 2000.
\nHowever, the Canton of Bern was willing to \u00abmake the existing infrastructure available if a private trust was prepared to raise its own funds to run the Brienz School of Violin Making\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The newly formed \u00abSave the School of Violin Making\u00bb committee managed to create the formal and financial conditions necessary for the establishment of the \u00abBrienz Violin Making School Foundation\u00bb. Teaching operations continued without interruption.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Oberdorfstrasse 94 Today
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GBS-2011-150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Scuola di liuteria 2011, allievi e insegnanti d’apprentissage\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/james_robert_batten_aussen_west5-150x150.jpg\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Scuola di liuteria 2018, dopo la ristrutturazione – Foto: James Robert Batten\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nToday, the whole property at Oberdorfstrasse 94 is owned by the Violin Making School Foundation. The land on which the freshly renovated and developed building is located belongs to the Canton of Bern. Since the building\u2018s conversion in the period 2016-18 and the rescission of the chalet\u2018s partition, school operations are housed across the entire building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\nPioneers<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe teachers of the School of Violin Making have shaped generations of young apprentices and defined the history of the School. In addition to their responsibilities as teachers, they also had to act as entrepreneurs to secure the continuance of the School of Violin Making and develop the teaching operations.<\/p>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/akoenig-150x150.jpg\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Adolf K\u00f6nig\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.geigenbauschule.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fvdijk-150x150.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Frans van Dijk\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n
Brienz has a long and venerable woodcarving tradition. Initially, wood- carving mainly served to manufacture utensils. Once the tourism industry started to boom in the first half of the 19th century, the production of souvenirs and objects of art developed into a vital business sector. Around 1880, approx. 2\u2018000 woodcarvers are believed to have worked in the Berner Oberland region. The Schnitzlerschule, today\u2018s School for Wood Carving, was established in Brienz in 1884.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/p>\n
During the times of crisis in the first half of the 20th century, the tourism industry in the Alpine region collapsed. Many woodcarvers were unemp- loyed. Given this background, the initiators of the School of Violin Making believed that adding a complementary artisanal industry to the existing woodcarving industry in Brienz would offer new potential for the region. Their idea was to give unemployed woodcarvers the opportunity to earn additional income by training them to produce accessories for the manu- facture of string and plucked instruments, as well as training up violin makers in Brienz. However, this plan never materialised in the envisaged form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Establishment<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Swiss School of Violin Making owes its existence to the initiative of two gentlemen from very different backgrounds.
\nProf. Dr. Heinrich Hanselmann, Professor for Remedial Education at the University of Zurich, music lover and owner of a collection of over 200 Swiss violins, was passionate about \u00abthe encouragement of violin playing and the cultivation of music at home\u00bb. By contrast, the Bern-based Government Councillor and Director of Economic Affairs Dr. Max Gafner focused on \u00abcreating and safeguarding the Swiss sales industry\u00bb. Together they set up the \u00abAssociation of friends of the Swiss violin\u00bb in 1943. Among the association\u2019s aims was the establishment of a school of violin making.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Prima sede della scuola di liuteria a Kirchb\u00fchl Brienz, anni ’40\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Trasferirsi allo “Schn\u00e4tzi”, 1952\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n anni ’70 nel seminterrato dello “Schn\u00e4tzi\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n1944 – Opening <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTeaching started on 1 July 1944. The early phase of the School of Violin Making was dominated by precarious circumstances, involving very basic working conditions and a bleak financial situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
1952 – Relocation to \u00abSchna\u0308tzi\u00bb school
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProspects improved in the 1950s when the School was brought under government control. It becomes a department of the \u00abSchnitzlerschule\u00bb (today’s school of wood sculpture).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Intestazione “Ufficio centrale per l’introduzione di nuove industrie”.\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\nIntroduction of new industries<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAgainst the background of the economic crisis in the pre-war and inter-war years, Switzerland was working to step up regional development strategies. Economic stimuli were needed in particular in the more disadvantaged regions. Following the example of the Canton of St. Gallen, the Executive Council of Bern decided to establish a \u00abCentral authority for the introduction of new industries\u00bb in 1932. The mid-1930s already saw a number of success stories, among them the siting of a General Motors factory in Biel in 1935.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
On the initiative of Councillor Dr. Max Gafner, the economic development scheme in Bern adopted an ambitious plan in 1946 that involved the establishment of an instrument making industry in Brienz. The idea was to attract the renowned family enterprise H\u00f6fner from the west Bohemian town of Sch\u00f6nbach (today Luby\/ Czech Republiv), which specialised in producing string and plucked instruments based on a collaborative approach, to Switzerland. After the war, H\u00f6fner had been nationalised and placed under the administration of the Czech socialist government. The former owner and his staff were eager to leave the country. Engineer Strauss, the head of the Biel authority for the introduction of new industries, travelled incognito to Sch\u00f6nbach and contacted Josef H\u00f6fner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Studio di un intagliatore di lumache a Sch\u00f6nbach – Foto: Ing. Strauss in occasione del suo viaggio a Sch\u00f6nbach 1946\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n <\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe plan was to establish H\u00f6fner and his staff in Brienz and the surrounding region. Up to 680 skilled workers and their families were to be settled in the area.
\nHowever, neither the \u00abFriends of the Swiss violin\u00bb nor the immigration authority in Brienz had imagined a project on this scale. There was massive resistance, especially among Swiss violin makers, against bringing such formidable competition into the country.<\/p>\n
For the time being, the project was delayed. In 1948, while the instrument makers from Sch\u00f6nbach languished in reception camps in Bavaria, negotiations restarted. Reduced to 24 families, then to 3, the project was dropped altogether in the end.<\/p>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMeanwhile Brienz had put the project on ice, with one exception: the \u00abFinkel Bogenwerkst\u00e4tte\u00bb (Finkel Bows), a company from Markneukirchen in East Germany, moved to Brienz in the early 1950s. Located at Bogenweg 4 in Schwanden near Brienz, the company has been producing premium bows for the international market ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n1982 – Current location<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
In 1982, the School of Violin Making moved to its present site. The building was renovated and received an extension which from then on housed the training workshop.<\/p>\n
\n\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Ulrich Walter Zimmermann e Adolf K\u00f6nig davanti al nuovo edificio scolastico 1982\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Poster: Salviamo la scuola di liuteria, Design: Eugen Bachmann-Geiser\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n <\/p>\n
Savings and private initiatives<\/h4>\n
The Canton of Bern was not immune to the Swiss real estate crisis and the recession of the 1990s. Like other authorities, the Bern education department was asked to come up with suggestions for savings. An extensive study was commissioned. According to the result of the \u00abinvestigation\u00bb of several schools \u00abwith supra-regional importance\u00bb, the continuance of the School for Violin Making was \u00abno longer considered expedient\u00bb on economic grounds.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\nDespite widespread protest, a closing order was issued in May 1996, decreeing that the School be closed in 2000.
\nHowever, the Canton of Bern was willing to \u00abmake the existing infrastructure available if a private trust was prepared to raise its own funds to run the Brienz School of Violin Making\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The newly formed \u00abSave the School of Violin Making\u00bb committee managed to create the formal and financial conditions necessary for the establishment of the \u00abBrienz Violin Making School Foundation\u00bb. Teaching operations continued without interruption.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Oberdorfstrasse 94 Today
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Scuola di liuteria 2011, allievi e insegnanti d’apprentissage\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Scuola di liuteria 2018, dopo la ristrutturazione – Foto: James Robert Batten\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nToday, the whole property at Oberdorfstrasse 94 is owned by the Violin Making School Foundation. The land on which the freshly renovated and developed building is located belongs to the Canton of Bern. Since the building\u2018s conversion in the period 2016-18 and the rescission of the chalet\u2018s partition, school operations are housed across the entire building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\nPioneers<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe teachers of the School of Violin Making have shaped generations of young apprentices and defined the history of the School. In addition to their responsibilities as teachers, they also had to act as entrepreneurs to secure the continuance of the School of Violin Making and develop the teaching operations.<\/p>\n
\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Adolf K\u00f6nig\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n \r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Frans van Dijk\r\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n
The Swiss School of Violin Making owes its existence to the initiative of two gentlemen from very different backgrounds.
\nProf. Dr. Heinrich Hanselmann, Professor for Remedial Education at the University of Zurich, music lover and owner of a collection of over 200 Swiss violins, was passionate about \u00abthe encouragement of violin playing and the cultivation of music at home\u00bb. By contrast, the Bern-based Government Councillor and Director of Economic Affairs Dr. Max Gafner focused on \u00abcreating and safeguarding the Swiss sales industry\u00bb. Together they set up the \u00abAssociation of friends of the Swiss violin\u00bb in 1943. Among the association\u2019s aims was the establishment of a school of violin making.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n 1944 – Opening <\/strong><\/p>\n Teaching started on 1 July 1944. The early phase of the School of Violin Making was dominated by precarious circumstances, involving very basic working conditions and a bleak financial situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 1952 – Relocation to \u00abSchna\u0308tzi\u00bb school Prospects improved in the 1950s when the School was brought under government control. It becomes a department of the \u00abSchnitzlerschule\u00bb (today’s school of wood sculpture).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Against the background of the economic crisis in the pre-war and inter-war years, Switzerland was working to step up regional development strategies. Economic stimuli were needed in particular in the more disadvantaged regions. Following the example of the Canton of St. Gallen, the Executive Council of Bern decided to establish a \u00abCentral authority for the introduction of new industries\u00bb in 1932. The mid-1930s already saw a number of success stories, among them the siting of a General Motors factory in Biel in 1935.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On the initiative of Councillor Dr. Max Gafner, the economic development scheme in Bern adopted an ambitious plan in 1946 that involved the establishment of an instrument making industry in Brienz. The idea was to attract the renowned family enterprise H\u00f6fner from the west Bohemian town of Sch\u00f6nbach (today Luby\/ Czech Republiv), which specialised in producing string and plucked instruments based on a collaborative approach, to Switzerland. After the war, H\u00f6fner had been nationalised and placed under the administration of the Czech socialist government. The former owner and his staff were eager to leave the country. Engineer Strauss, the head of the Biel authority for the introduction of new industries, travelled incognito to Sch\u00f6nbach and contacted Josef H\u00f6fner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n The plan was to establish H\u00f6fner and his staff in Brienz and the surrounding region. Up to 680 skilled workers and their families were to be settled in the area. For the time being, the project was delayed. In 1948, while the instrument makers from Sch\u00f6nbach languished in reception camps in Bavaria, negotiations restarted. Reduced to 24 families, then to 3, the project was dropped altogether in the end.<\/p>\n Meanwhile Brienz had put the project on ice, with one exception: the \u00abFinkel Bogenwerkst\u00e4tte\u00bb (Finkel Bows), a company from Markneukirchen in East Germany, moved to Brienz in the early 1950s. Located at Bogenweg 4 in Schwanden near Brienz, the company has been producing premium bows for the international market ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In 1982, the School of Violin Making moved to its present site. The building was renovated and received an extension which from then on housed the training workshop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Canton of Bern was not immune to the Swiss real estate crisis and the recession of the 1990s. Like other authorities, the Bern education department was asked to come up with suggestions for savings. An extensive study was commissioned. According to the result of the \u00abinvestigation\u00bb of several schools \u00abwith supra-regional importance\u00bb, the continuance of the School for Violin Making was \u00abno longer considered expedient\u00bb on economic grounds.<\/p>\n Despite widespread protest, a closing order was issued in May 1996, decreeing that the School be closed in 2000. The newly formed \u00abSave the School of Violin Making\u00bb committee managed to create the formal and financial conditions necessary for the establishment of the \u00abBrienz Violin Making School Foundation\u00bb. Teaching operations continued without interruption.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Today, the whole property at Oberdorfstrasse 94 is owned by the Violin Making School Foundation. The land on which the freshly renovated and developed building is located belongs to the Canton of Bern. Since the building\u2018s conversion in the period 2016-18 and the rescission of the chalet\u2018s partition, school operations are housed across the entire building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The teachers of the School of Violin Making have shaped generations of young apprentices and defined the history of the School. In addition to their responsibilities as teachers, they also had to act as entrepreneurs to secure the continuance of the School of Violin Making and develop the teaching operations.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n Introduction of new industries<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\nHowever, neither the \u00abFriends of the Swiss violin\u00bb nor the immigration authority in Brienz had imagined a project on this scale. There was massive resistance, especially among Swiss violin makers, against bringing such formidable competition into the country.<\/p>\n\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n1982 – Current location<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n Savings and private initiatives<\/h4>\n
\nHowever, the Canton of Bern was willing to \u00abmake the existing infrastructure available if a private trust was prepared to raise its own funds to run the Brienz School of Violin Making\u00bb.<\/p>\nOberdorfstrasse 94 Today
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n Pioneers<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n