Matthias Ockermueller Geigenbau

Universal & SpecialiZed

I offer a wide range of services for your string instrument in my workshop. Complex restorations of antique instruments form one core of my work. With typical servicing work, I keep your instrument and bow in perfect condition. Detailed sound adjustments and a fine selection of strings help you optimize the sound. And it is with great joy that I also devote myself to new making of historical string instruments in authentic playing condition. My honest belief: a universal approach and excellent results are not mutually exclusive.

A brief portrait of your Violin Maker

In my childhood days my mother’s record player has been most captivating. Edita Gruberova and Mozart had really taken me. Learning the flute and trumpet later on not so much. My father’s woodworking shop had a bit more attraction to me then. My thing for music came back a little later with playing the violin. And, as an academic career after my studies in Geodesy was not really hitting the mark, my love for music and woodwork intertwined to me becoming a violin maker. My dream job.

• Apprenticeship training as a stringed and plucked instrument maker at the HTL Hallstatt (Austria).
• Employments at the conservation department of the Musée de la Musique under Jean-Philippe Échard, Paris (France). Wilhelm Geigenbau, Suhr/Aarau (Switzerland). Henriette Lersch, Vienna. Gerlinde Reutterer, Vienna (Austria).
• Study internships with Balthazar Soulier & Josselin Riehl, Atelier Cels, Paris. Matthias Bölli & Franz Münzberg, Vienna. Martin Rainer, Vienna. Thomas Gerbeth, Vienna.
• Masterclasses in restoration of stringed instruments with Gudrun Kremeier, Almuth McWilliams, Damien Sainmont & Warren Bailey.

In music and arts I take great joy in the works of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical era. The instruments of the violin family I sense as one of the great creations of humanity. With my every day work I maintain and develop this wonderful cultural heritage and contribute to preserving it for the generations to come.

“Viva fui, in sylvis sum dura occisa securi. Dum vixi, tacui: mortua dulce cano.”

Inscription on a portrait engraving of Gaspar Duiffoprugcar; Pierre Woeiriot, 1564.

I Look forward to your message

Please reach out to me by email, telephone or simply by using the contact form below. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

• Email
• Call

Please note that I do not have general opening hours and accept appointments by arrangement only.

Informative & Educational

Typically, I am working on several projects in parallel. When approaching their completion and making an instrument sound again – or for the first time – that’s always a special moment. Here, I would like to showcase some interesting examples of work.