Franz Josef Klier

Klier was born on April 12, 1901 in Schönbach, and followed his father’s footsteps into the violin making profession. After his apprenticeship to R. Schuster, he began working for Winterling at his workshop in Hamburg. Between the years of 1924 and 1927, Klier returned to Schuster to improve his skills and techniques and was later established independently in Cassel in 1928. Due to the Second World War, his workshop was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1943. After this tragedy, he settled in Bubenreuth and continued to make violins there. Klier’s instruments were inspired by many classical makers, including Stradivari, Guarneri, C.G. Testore, Francesco Ruggieri, Nicolo Amati, and Jakob Stainer. He mainly used reddish-yellow oil varnish to finish his instruments. His workmanship was awarded with a gold medal at Ghent in 1927.