Klotz (violin makers) explained

Klotz is a family of violin makers. Members of the Klotz (or Kloz) family have made violins in Mittenwald, Bavaria from the mid-17th century to the present. Matthias Klotz (1656–1743) founded the Mittenwald school of violin making. Mittenwald prospered and became well known for its violins.

In 1856, the Bavarian government founded a school in Mittenwald to continue the violin trade.^[1] Dictionaries of violin makers list more than 25 artisans by this name.^[2]

Typical labels:

• Mattias Klotz Geigenmacher zu Mittenwald an der Iser 1697
• Mathias Klotz Lauten und Geigenmacher in Mittenwald an der Iser Anno 1695
• Mathias Kloz Lautenmacher. A label of the family in Mittenwalt Anno 1725.

Instruments by Sebastian Klotz (1696–1768) are probably the most admired among the many existing examples by this family.

Typical labels:

• Sebastian Klotz in Mittenwald an der Iser 1734
• Sebastian Kloz, in Mittenwald, an 1743
• Seb. G. Kloz in Mittenwald, 1732

Notes and References

1. Peterffy,Ernest. Music and Youth, April 1926, cited in The Rockford Register-Gazette, May 17, 1926. Helen Fish, "Klotz First of Violin Makers of Mittenwald", p. 15. "Search Klotz Violin Illinois"
2. Abele, Hyacinth, and Geoffrey Alwyn. The Violin & Its Story: Or the History & Construction of the Violin. London: "The Strad" Office, 1905.