How is a violin made?

Making a violin starts with selecting the right wood: slow-growing spruce wood is particularly well-suited to the case. The sides and back are made of hard maple wood. Tone wood is a violin maker's greatest treasure, even though they only need a small amount of material.

The halves of the top plate are split out of a spruce trunk and joined together in mirrored pairs. The outline of the violin is drawn on the inside and then sawn out. The mirrored design results in a symmetrical arrangement of the annular rings.

All violin instruments have similar sound holes in the soundboard, which are called F-holes because of their shape. Elegantly carving out the F-holes can take hours.

The base of a violin should be thin and light. Measuring devices help to achieve the optimum thickness in various areas.

Different planes are used to create a really smooth surface; this is the smallest one. The three-layer inlays are clearly visible on the violin's top plate. These are not just for decoration: they also protect the edge of the violin from cracks and bumps.

The neck and peg box are sawn and carved out of a piece of sycamore wood.

The Baroque snail shape at the end of the peg box is typical for violins.

The fingerboard is traditionally made of hard ebony from the tropics. There are also innovative techniques used for thickening wood so that thickened spruce wood can also be used for creating fingerboards.

A violin maker uses so many tools for just one step of the process: carving the snail on the peg box

Leftover wood shavings and scraps are useful for heating the workshop during the cold times of year.

Violin makers from the region of Füssen and its Italian twin city Cremona come to the Museum of Füssen every summer to show off their skills Meeting point Violin making at the festival vielsaitig