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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
East German harmonica companies
East German harmonica companies
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
857 posts
Apr 15, 2012
4:05 PM
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If anybody is interested in a little history... I've started updating the "Featured Company of the Week" section again on the Website. I just put up one on private harmonica companies in the former East Germany. There were 18 of them operating as private companies during the DDR years, they were nationalized one by one, but there were still private harmonica companies operating in the DDR as late as the 1970s.
East German Harmonica Makers
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David
Elk River Harmonicas
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"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard
"Also, drinking homemade beer." - David Payne
Last Edited by on Apr 15, 2012 4:07 PM
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nacoran
5548 posts
Apr 15, 2012
11:12 PM
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Cool. I love this stuff!
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Nate
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
864 posts
Apr 16, 2012
6:06 AM
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I was really surprised to learn there were that many. You never saw much from East Germany to begin with, whatever you had usually came from Australia, Italy or someplace that was a bit more chummy with the East Bloc than we were.. But even then, the communist overlords gave the state-rn companies the entire export market.
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David
Elk River Harmonicas
Elk River Harmonicas on Facebook
"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard
"Also, drinking homemade beer." - David Payne
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florida-trader
110 posts
Apr 16, 2012
9:06 AM
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Dave:
This is an interesting thread. I have stumbled across harmonicas made by several of these companies and own a few - Bohm, Rauner, (pre-war) Seydel and maybe one or two others come to mind. Do you have any idea about how harmonicas made by these companies stack up against Hohner and/or Seydel? I am speaking from the perspective of playability, tone etc.
Thanks,
Tom
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
867 posts
Apr 16, 2012
9:28 AM
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All these guys made nice harmonicas before World War II. UNder East German rule, they were mostly crap. Vermona used to deliver harmonicas by weight, yes weight, like it was corn or something. How often do you think they swapped out their reedplate dies?
Mostly the problem was playability. You don't get much quality of craftsmanship under this economic system.
I'm not sure if you got something from the DDR if you would even know who made it. Vermona was promoted as a brand and its name was all over stuff. Vermona also got the all the export orders, so the stuff these other guys made would have either been consumed in the DDR or been a component for something else.
But then you see stuff that has no name on it whatsoever. I used to have this harp that looked like a tremolo, it had cells for 34 reeds or something, but there were like 28 empty holes. Only four reeds per reedplate. It was made in communist Czechoslavakia. There were no other markings on it whatsoever. It was called the "radio harp" or something that had radio in it. It was obvious that they had just pulled out some coverplate dies from the 1920s to make this thing.
David
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David
Elk River Harmonicas
Elk River Harmonicas on Facebook
"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard
"Also, drinking homemade beer." - David Payne
Last Edited by on Apr 16, 2012 9:41 AM
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florida-trader
111 posts
Apr 16, 2012
10:53 AM
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I have one of those! It is a nice looking 10 hole harp, but it only has reeds in every other hole. It looks like it was made with whatever parts they had lying around when they made it.
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Steamrollin Stan
345 posts
Apr 16, 2012
10:58 AM
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@erh, Australia...chummy with the East bloc?, so awesome!!
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
868 posts
Apr 16, 2012
11:17 AM
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I shouldn't have included Australia in that list, except to say you could get East German harps there ;) I'll get on sending 20 million personal apology e-mails to Australia right away.
These Australians in Korea, for instance, don't look too chummy about communism.
I can't mention the Korean War without a plug for my grandfather, who was with Able Company 5th Regimental Combat Team at the Battle of Outpost Harry. The odds were actually better at the Alamo.
Battle of Outpost Harry
Australia was an interesting dynamic, part of the British commonwealth, they really weren't all that chummy, they sent troops to fight communism in Korea and Vietnam, but you could still buy East German harmonicas there.
Back in the 1890s, Albert's Music store chain, started having Seydel make the boomerang model (the look was designed by Albert, Seydel made it). They developed a real close working relationship. Seydel owned, I mean owned Australia before WWII, it was the one place Hohner could never get a good toehold... and it was because of that close relationship with Albert's and Seydel. It was strong enough to carry them through two world wars and beyond (Albert's doesn't have music stores, now. They just manage AC/DC and stuff).
Even in the DDR years, Albert's ordered Boomerang harmonicas from Vermona - I think that continued until the 1970s... Vermona was to Seydel what Darth Vader was to Anakin Skywalker... same guy, different boss, different team and he traded in his blue lightsaber for a RED one.
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David
Elk River Harmonicas
Elk River Harmonicas on Facebook
"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard
"Also, drinking homemade beer." - David Payne
Last Edited by on Apr 16, 2012 11:50 AM
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nacoran
5554 posts
Apr 16, 2012
12:05 PM
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I had a pretty extensive list of brands. It's posted somewhere around here. I didn't have much info on most of them. I compiled the list from pics on eBay and basically any other site I could find with harp pics. The list was really long. I finally gave up when I saw more and more new brands coming out China that seemed to all be made in the same factory. I didn't have the energy to sort out what was really a different brand and what was just a different marketing name.
I saw rumors of Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Korean, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Brazilian, Czechoslovakian, American and of course, lot's of German companies.
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Nate
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
871 posts
Apr 16, 2012
6:22 PM
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I wouldn't have given up. I would have just ignored the Chinese companies. You can never get a handle for what's going on over there, those guys shut a factory down and move it across the state under a new name all the time. You'll never get a handle on it. I'd be interested to see what you have. Most of the Czech companies, by the way, would be German companies also.
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David
Elk River Harmonicas
Elk River Harmonicas on Facebook
"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard
"Also, drinking homemade beer." - David Payne
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