jonfrohnen Posted April 27, 2013 Report Share Posted April 27, 2013 Hello, does anyone have any information on G.A. Pfretzschner? I know he had a pretty large operation, I have a few of his three star bows and they are fantastic. But has far as the history of this firm I can't even discover what G.A. stands for! If anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated! Cordially, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobsaunders Posted April 29, 2013 Report Share Posted April 29, 2013 According to their catalogue, the large Markneukirchen wholesaler G. A. Pfretzschner was founded in 1834. Lütgendorff (1922) reports that the firm started life as M. C. R. Andorff and subsequently became the property of Adolf Pfretzschner and later his son Hans Pfretzschner together with the firm's director Max Martin, and had been re-named “Deutsche Signal-Instrumentenfabrik Pfretzschner & Martin vormals M. C. R. Andorff”.We know from the prior link in the Music Trade Review (1903) that the sole G.A. Pfretzschner importer in America was M. E. Schoening of 369 Broadway NY. In another publication, “The Horseless Age...” 1907 we learn that Schoening also imported auto-horns from the “Deutsche Signal-Instrumentenfabrik.”I am not aware of, and doubt the existence of an individual called Pfretzschner with the initials G.A. The firm wholesaled vast amounts of instruments and sundry equipment made in the cottage industry of the area. Your bows could be from any of the hundreds of bowmakers who delivered their wares by the dozen (hence the German term “Dutzendarbeit"), just as were instruments, bows etc. with many other trade names similarly sourced in the cottage industry production, for instance Eduard Reichert/Dresden (see post #19 here: http://www.maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/topic/243250-eduard-reichert-1912-violin/ ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonfrohnen Posted April 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2013 Awesome, thanks for this info, very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonfrohnen Posted April 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2013 Seems I'm not the only one in love with the 3 star bows...someone paid quite a bit for this messy GAP*** http://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2648B/lots/202 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapten_windu Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 Mm, I use googlemaps on central of Markneukirchen, about 300m east of Musikinstrumenten Museum, there's Pfretzschner-Heinz Bogenmachermeister, maybe woth a visit if you're in Southern-Germany.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonfrohnen Posted May 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2013 Seems to stand for Gustav Adolf Pfretzschner, interesting article and PDF link as well below. http://musikwinkel.info/2011-11-15/ein-ruckblick-auf-die-geschichte-der-musikinstrumentenhandler-in-markneukirchen-am-beispiel-der-firma-g-a-pfretzschner/ Sounds like the German equivelent to J.T. Lamy to me....lots of good stuff (some great stuff) and lots of not-so-good stuff. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBFindlay Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Has anyone ever seen the label "Andreas Pfretzschner"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Dorsey Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 On 4/29/2013 at 6:45 PM, jonfrohnen said: Seems I'm not the only one in love with the 3 star bows...someone paid quite a bit for this messy GAP***... That bow has silver mounts and a tortoise shell frog and a fancy, though damaged, tortoise shell button. I have had several quite nice silver ebony G A Pfretzschner bows and I have a silver and tortoise shell one. Also a lot of cheap violins and bows bearing the same name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akaBobH Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 3 hours ago, Brad Dorsey said: That bow has silver mounts and a tortoise shell frog and a fancy, though damaged, tortoise shell button. I have had several quite nice silver ebony G A Pfretzschner bows and a lot of cheap violins and bows bearing the same name. I have a very nice three-star GAP with engraved silver mounts (including the slide, but excluding the top of the ferrule). Ebony frog, no eye, but has the usual Pfretzschner logo on the thumb side. Am I wrong in assuming the H R Pfretzschner's are generally of a better quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobsaunders Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 1 hour ago, akaBobH said: I have a very nice three-star GAP with engraved silver mounts (including the slide, but excluding the top of the ferrule). Ebony frog, no eye, but has the usual Pfretzschner logo on the thumb side. Am I wrong in assuming the H R Pfretzschner's are generally of a better quality? G.A. Pfretschner was one of the largest wholesalers with a large catalogue of all musical mechandice, sourced in the region from all sorts of wreched artisans, who traded into the DDR period until they wound up in the 1960’s. H.R. Pfretschner by contrast was a dynasty of Master bow makers, starting in the mid 19th. C, down to the last one, who is about my age, and lives in Berlin, so you are kind of comparing two different things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Dorsey Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 1 hour ago, akaBobH said: ...Am I wrong in assuming the H R Pfretzschner's are generally of a better quality? No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gapfretzschner Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 If you want to know more about G.A. Pfretzschner and the whole Pfretzschner family please have a look here www.pfretzschner.de Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff White Posted February 1, 2021 Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 Aha, I somehow missed that GAP and HRP were in the same family (son/father). Great read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlecollector Posted February 1, 2021 Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 9 hours ago, Jeff White said: Aha, I somehow missed that GAP and HRP were in the same family (son/father). Great read Where does it say that , Hermann Richard was the son of Carl Richard , Herman Richard had a son Richard Hermann? Different line to GA Pfretzschner. http://www.pfretzschner-markneukirchen.de/html/pfretzschner-firmentradition.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff White Posted February 3, 2021 Report Share Posted February 3, 2021 On 2/1/2021 at 2:28 AM, fiddlecollector said: Where does it say that , Hermann Richard was the son of Carl Richard , Herman Richard had a son Richard Hermann? Different line to GA Pfretzschner. http://www.pfretzschner-markneukirchen.de/html/pfretzschner-firmentradition.html I guess I didn't read it carefully enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.