Factory Tour Hohner Trossingen

1. The Hohner factory. In this factory in Trossingen/Germany besides harmonicas and recorders the following models are build: Gola, Morino, Genius, Ventura, Corona Classic. This is the Hohner Made in Germany line.

The Hohner International line is made with German know how- using the original German machines - in the Hohner factory in China: Bravo, Nova, Amica, Corona II, Corona III, Panther, Corso, Erica. To keep the quality level high, a team of Hohner Germany is over there frequently.

Let´s take a walk around the Trossingen factory, guided by product manager Horst Fausel.

production hall

3Production hall

4. Corona Classics awaiting shipment

5. Ready for transport

6. Corona department

7. Waltraud Bauer sets up the reed blocks of a Corona Classic.

8. Fitting of the reed blocks.

9. Some Mexican style Corona Classics

10. The reed punch

11. Magnifying glass for testing the reeds.

12. One of the most important workers for the Hohner sound: Dieter Kohler aligns/egalizes the reeds in the Giovanni Gola manner, a treatment of the reeds which is handed down from one generation of workers to another. The first in this tradition was Pietro Fillipazzi of Stradella, who started to work for Hohner in 1956.

13. Installing the valves

14. The fine alignment of the reeds

15.The tools are simple - it is all in the hands of the craftsmen.

16. Finishing up with a sandpaper file

17. Renate Meyhof does the waxing of the reed blocks, the wax is heated in the container under the red exhausting system.

18. Filling in the wax to keep the reedblocks air tight

19. Head of the tuning department Ekkehard Stetter in his work space.

20. Nothing can substitute tuning by hand, every reedblock passes through this department.

21. Except for the electronic tuner little has changed in this tuning set up

22. This is an old tuning set up, used by generations of Hohner tuners. The accordion is handy for reference tones.

23. The air pressure is generated by a sewing machine like mechanism.

24. And they've been known to pick a song or two...

25. Master builder Sigmar Gothe sets up the bass mechanism of a Hohner Gola.

26. Master builders Gerhard Herbach and Sigmar Gothe with a Hohner Gola they have just finished. Golas are made on special order only. Giovanni Gola once was the production manager of the Hohner accordion line. This top of the line model bears his name. Giovanni Gola is known for having set the highest standards in accordion production.

hat Amati and Stradivari were to the violin, Venanzio Morino and Giovanni Gola were to the accordion.

But the quest goes on: who was the Leo Fender of the Corona?

Giovanni Gola was born in Stradella/Italy in 1907, learned accordion building in the Dallape factory and worked from 1952 till 1972 for Hohner. After his retirement he went back to Stradella where he died in 1978.

In 1956 the first Golas as top of the line instruments were made. The reeds were specially aligned/egalized to give the same response in all registers. The reeds were tuned using sandpaper files to leave no filing marks.

Venanzio Morino was Golas predecessor. He was born in 1876 in Piemont/Italy and lived from 1900 on in Geneve/Switzerland. There he repaired and built accordions. Known for his superb craftsmanship, he was invited to work for Hohner in 1928. The Morino series bears the name of its conceptor. He died in 1961 in Trossingen.

At Hohner, Venanzio Morino and Giovanni Gola could pair their Italian ingenuity with the German sense for perfection.

27. Product manager Horst Fausel gets out some of the old silk screen stencils.

28. Coronarama - Corona II and III, Panther and Classic

29. R&D manager Matthias Keller, pu, product manager Horst Fausel

30. R&D manager Matthias Keller picking a tune

31. Product manager Horst Fausel on a Corona III. Most of the Hohner workers are active musicians.

32. The Hohner design team, left to right: Matthias Keller, Alfred Vinzenz, Dominik Haug, Natalia Erik, Walter Rostan, Dirk Bippus, Gerhard Czerny, Peter ThŸmmel, The Hai Nguyen .

33. In the evening Horst Fausel and Matthias Keller took me to the rehearsal of the "Hohner Akkordeon Orchester 1927" . Many Hohner workers play in this orchestra.

34. Master builder Gerhard Herbach in the third accordion chair with his Hohner Genius, an instrument he built himself. "It is a real luxury to play an instrument you have built yourself", he told me.