Music history
The world of harmonicas – Harmonicas for the world
They have written music history, the harmonicas from Hohner. From Trossingen in the Donaubergland region, harmonicas conquered the world in the 20th century. They can be admired in the German Harmonica Museum in Trossingen.
This also includes “Little Lady”. She is not only the smallest playable harmonica in the world, but also the first instrument to be played in space. It was in 1965: during the Gemini 6 space mission, astronaut Walter Schirra played “Jingle Bells” on her. This secured it a place in the history books.
The global company Hohner
The harmonica was probably invented in Vienna in the 1820s. The Trossingen craftsman Christian Messner probably made the first harmonica in Trossingen around 18127/1828 based on the Viennese model.
In 1857, the watchmaker Matthias Hohner produced the first harmonica in Trossingen. At that time, all work steps were still carried out by hand by one person.
However, mass production soon began and the Matthias Hohner company rose to become the world market leader over the decades.
In the 1920s, around 50 million harmonicas were produced worldwide, 33 million of them in Trossingen. Within a few years, Hohner took over several other Trossingen harmonica companies at the end of the 1920s (Württ. Harmonikafabrik Ch. Weiss AG and Andreas Koch Harmonika-Fabrik).
Numerous world stars have played on Hohner harmonicas.
What can you see and hear at the German Harmonica Museum?
In the very place where millions upon millions of harmonica musical instruments were once manufactured, museum visitors can now hear, see and relive the exciting history of the industry completely barrier-free on an area of over 800 square meters.
The world history of the harmonica comes to life through the multi-layered multimedia permanent exhibition with its music and film stations and all kinds of superlatives.
The new harmonica from Hohner for our Danube Wave Premium Trails
All visitor information about the German Harmonica Museum in Trossingen
A contribution from the children’s program “Floh im Ohr.TV” (on Youtube)
