RIN:465 FRITZ REUTER & SONS: History of a Family, History of a Firm

*** FRITZ REUTER, SR. (BRUNO FRITZ REUTER, B. FRITZ REUTER)
As the name of our firm suggests, the history of FRITZ REUTER & SONS and the history of our family come close to being one and the same. So let me first introduce our establishment's founder, my late grandfather, Bruno Fritz Reuter (Fritz Reuter, Sr.). He was born slightly more than a century ago--August 4, 1897--in the former Kingdom of Saxony/Germany, at Meerane, a small industrial town not quite forty miles south of Leipzig. As of yet, there were no luthiers in the family; but there was a family tradition of designing and making things.
From an early age, my grandfather dreamed of becoming an artist--either a painter or a violin maker. His older son, my father, remembers how, years later, B. Fritz Reuter's own home was filled with paintings from the ceiling to the floor. Yet, so far as his career interests were concerned, the desire to create violins obviously won out. He apprenticed from 1912-16 with his hometown's Master Violin Maker, Albert Oskar Krahl. And in 1916 the violin makers guild of Markneukirchen, Saxony, certified my grandfather--still a teenager--as "Geselle" or journeyman violin maker.

After the end of the Great War (WWI), my granfather wanted to emigrate to the United States--but he never got further than the shores of the North Sea in the Netherlands. Even so, in Rotterdam he further developed his artistry as maker and restorer under the guidance of Master Jacob Wolfgang Hakkert. He then settled in The Hague, where he worked and learned at the atelier of the great expert and master violin maker Josef Vedral.

Eventually (1922) his entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish his own atelier and business in The Hague. While this was an important step indeed--if he hadn't taken it, there would be no FRITZ REUTER & SONS--Fritz Reuter, Sr., knew that his life had to include more than his craft. In 1931, therefore, he married a woman who had come to Holland from the region of Lower Saxony. It is an interesting coincidence that his wife, my grandmother, Wihelmine Reuter, had been born in Quakenbruck--the same region that had witnessed the births of the great Dutch violin makers Jan Boumeester, Hendrick Aerninck, and Gerrit J. Menslage. In any case, my grandparents were soon able to rejoice over births of their own. My father, Fritz Reuter, Jr., was born in 1931; my uncle, Gunther, in 1934; and my aunt, Renate, the year thereafter.

These personal milestones soon found parallel fruition in the continuing professional life of Fritz Reuter, Sr. The journey which he had begun as a very young man, in 1912, reached a point of high recognition and honor in 1938. For in that year, my grandfather was certified as Meister--yes, as Master Violin Maker--by the Guild of Violin Makers in Dusseldorf, Germany. He had become a master of his craft, founded and developed a business whose success honored that craft and its traditions, and established a very creative atelier. As you who have now met Fritz Reuter, Sr., will easily understand, his legacy and counsel remain a source of guidance and inspiration in the FRITZ REUTER & SONS of today.

Sadly, my grandfather became one of the many casualties of World War II. He was killed on July 17, 1944, and buried in Lavarde, Normandie/France.

As you already know, my father, Fritz Reuter, Jr., was born in 1931--on October 29, to be precise. Plainly, he was quite young at the time of his father's death. It's equally clear that his interest in music started early. By the late 1930s, my father began his formal study of violin performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. His interest in the violin was genuine and intense, as it still is today. But however hard he worked, he finally concluded, his playing was not going to get dramatically better. He was not likely to excel as a performer.

But in 1948, following World War II, he and his younger brother, Gunther, applied to the Geigenbauschule (Violin Making School) in Mittenwald, a German city with a long tradition as a center for the creation of fine instruments. They were found qualified and accepted admission. The brothers apprenticed under Johann Karner, Leo Aschauer, Mathias Klotz, and Andreas Furst--the last person on this list being one of the Masters under whom I myself was to study, some three decades later! At last, when they had met all the requirements of the Geigenbauschule curriculum, Fritz and Gunther Reuter graduated together in December, 1951. Each had earned a Bachelor's Degree in violin making.

With this credential in hand, my father continued working in Mittenwald until his eventual departure for the U.S.A.; in 1955, Fritz Reuter, Jr., was to make the move which Fritz Reuter, Sr., had hoped for at the end of World War I. Prior to his 1955 emigration, however, my father served as a volunteer (from 1949 into 1952) in the shop of Michael Reindl, then Mittenwald's foremost master violin maker, and also worked for the senior Reindl's son, Franz. What's more, in 1952-53, he added further experience as an employee of Edmund Hollenbach's firm; there, he worked as Guitar Maker under Kaspar Brandtner. During 1953-54, he was in the employ of Anton Dietl, helping him to establish the bass-making segment of his business. But this is not all. My father also worked for the firm of Benedikt Lang where, under the guidance of Roman Sandner, he made cellos and basses. And in addition, he gained extensive theoretical and practical knowledge from Paul Seckendorf and Hans Roedig.

Then came the U.S.A., the chance to put all of this European training and experience to work in a new setting. In 1955, my father was engaged by R. A. Olson, president of the Chicago firm known as William Lewis & Son. At this world-renowned firm, he worked--under the direction of Carl G. Becker, Sr.--as a restorer and reparateur of fine stringed instruments. The year 1956 marked a break in my father's practice of his craft, for in this year he was drafted into the U.S. Army. But, upon completion of two years' service (1956-58), he received an Honorable Discharge and returned to his employment with William Lewis and Son. Roughly three years later (1961), Fritz and his brother were reunited when Gunther too relocated to the United States. Lewis and Son soon became the employer of both brothers.

Upon leaving Lewis and Son, my father, together with his brother, refounded the firm which their father had first founded at The Hague in 1922. The year was 1964, and the brothers--to honor their late father--named the shop FRITZ REUTER & SONS, INC. As for me, I was too young to know what was really happening. But my father has often told me how much assistance bolstered their refounding efforts, how much help came from friends of our family. Three were especially important: (1) the late Max Moeller II of Amsterdam, who was a world-renowned expert and the Netherlands' most prominent instrument dealer (2) the late Henry Regnery, Chicago's most noted independent publisher, and (3) the late Frank Miller, long-time principal cellist for Toscanini's NBC Symphony and, later, from Reiner through Solti, for the Chicago Symphony.

For 30 years after the refounding, we were located at 1565 West Howard Street in Chicago. During 1994, however, we relocated to 3917 West Touhy Avenue in Lincolnwood (easily accessible, but only three miles from our prior location). At our new address, we continue to honor the guild traditions which have always sustained our enterprise. We continue to practice our craft as Chicagoland's oldest establishment of Violin Makers and Dealers.

Since the 1964 refounding, we have kept the Reuter tradition of making and selling violins, violas, and cellos. But we have, as well, provided additional services. We have undertaken extensive restoration and conservation work on fine old stringed instruments and bows. Since my father, Fritz Reuter, Jr., has been a member of many professional violin making organizations--and of appraisers' associations (the International Society of Appraisers, Inc., since 1984, and the Appraisers Association of America since 1991)--he has developed a personal specialty that adds even more to the expanded services I have described. He has become a recognized expert in the appraisal and certification of stringed instruments (bows, as well) for insurance and probate purposes.

When I ask my father what he counts as his greatest contribution to FRITZ REUTER & SONS, he doesn't falsely conceal the diversity of his abilities. But he certainly attaches special importance to his work as an educator. He has thus sought to bring to light many aspects of violin making and violin selling which the general musical public, all too often, just doesn't know about. It is always hard to say exactly when an interest began. Yet it is a matter of fact that my father has long wanted the public to benefit from our firm's extensive professional experience and knowledge. You don't have to be around him long to realize that he dislikes the myths and mystifications that have, like a dense fog, wrapped themselves about violins and the selling of violins. His first public educational venture should probably be dated 1971. For this was the year that he wrote, copyrighted, and published a small booklet--issued as an educational device--which provided basic information that he knew would help anyone interested in purchasing a stringed instrument. He issued it under the title, HOW TO BUY A VIOLIN: Reuter's Consumer Report on Violins, Violas, Celli, Basses, and Bows. In a revised and enlarged version, this publication is still available through our Web page.

Yet 1971 was only the beginning of Fritz Reuter Jr.'s educational activity. There are other dealers who publish newsletters, but these are almost exclusively devoted to promoting the sale of the particular dealer's current stock. In April of 1984, my father began to issue--at irregular intervals--a newsletter of his own: REUTER'S FOCUS REPORT. Of course its presentation of Reuter violins and other merchandise available through our shop is, understandably, positive. But this is a newsletter which spends no real time on marketing our wares. Its forcefully articulated emphasis is educational, through and through. Its contents, largely substantial articles, are directed toward helping people become informed buyers and owners of musical instruments.

This positive goal has sometimes had telling consequences. In 1980, for example, my father was invited (by Hans Weisshaar of Los Angeles, California, and Jacques Francais of New York City) to become a co-founder of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers. He accepted, and was elected as the Federation's first secretary; he was also elected, with Jacques Francais, to the Federation's original Committee on Repairs and Depreciations. But my father's ethical commitment to speaking honestly and making relevant information public--combined with his steadfast belief in the U.S. Constitution's first amendment guarantee of freedom of speech and publication--ran into the Omerta, what some call the "Code of Silence". In September of 1984, the Federation's Board of Governors censored the contents of REUTER'S FOCUS REPORT (April, 1984, issue) without stating their specific objections. My father faced a stark option: to apologize for the REPORT's contents, or face expulsion. Ironically, it was precisely because my father cherished the Federation's own Code of Ethics--not the Code of Silence--that, at this point, he made his decision to resign. And similar scenarios have replayed themselves vis-a-vis the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers and the German Association of Violin Makers. What I would stress is simple enough. My father's exclusion from professional luthiers' organizations flows directly from his ethical convictions and educational mission. (His brother Gunter, exclusively a maker, continues as a member in good standing of these same associations.)

So, while the blunt honesty of REUTER'S FOCUS REPORT has obviously annoyed some, I proudly endorse my father's commitment to truthful discussion and disclosure. I am certain that, for every irritated reader of the FOCUS REPORT, there are at least a hundred readers who credit it with having enabled them to avoid devastating disappointments--and to get (at a fair price) the instruments, supplies, and services they want.

From earlier introductions, you're aware that my uncle is only slightly younger than my father. Gunther Reuter was born in 1934. Part of his professional development, as you know, ran in parallel to my father's. Both enrolled in Mittenwald's Violin Making School in 1948--when Gunther, however, was only 14 years old! Both were there tutored by the same Masters, and both graduated in 1951. Though they arrived in the United States at different times, during the period that the brothers were employed by William Lewis & Son, both worked as repairmen and restorers. There was no opportunity to make new instruments.

Yet it was just this that Gunter Reuter was especially eager to do. Six years--the period from 1955 to 1961--separate my father's arrival in the U.S. from my uncle's. And during that time, my Uncle Gunther had extended his education under the guidance of Master Makers Anton Dietl, Rudolf Lang, and Ottomar Hausmann. From them, he had sought to learn everything he possibly could--and he had sought to meet all the requirements, practical and theoretical, for the Master's Degree. Thus, in April of 1958, the Violin Maker's Guild (Munich) granted him the title of Master. In fact, it awarded the degree cum laude, with honor. My uncle was now Meister Reuter.

The title and degree brought with them the authority both to teach and to supervise the work of others. So it is easy to understand why my uncle found repair and restoration far too limiting. It's even easier to see how liberating it was when he and my father refounded FRITZ REUTER & SONS. Here, all our family stories make a single point. When Chicago witnessed REUTER & SONS' opening in 1964, the event revitalized Gunther Reuter's calling as an architect and maker of new instruments. He began crafting violins, violas, and celli exclusively for REUTER & SONS. Indeed, for a decade it was impossible to obtain new Reuter instruments from any other source. Throughout this ten-year period, my uncle steadily became more and more productive. Between the beginning of 1964 and the end of 1973, he made eighty-six (86) signature instruments--twenty-eight (28) of these in 1972-73 alone. And these, please remember, are his American signature instruments. My figures do not include the numerous other violins--shop instruments--made under his supervision and bearing the distinctive marks of his design and hand. Nor do my comments say anything about the instruments he had earlier crafted in Europe.

As the published tabulation of Uncle Gunther's signature creations clearly shows (see REUTER'S FOCUS REPORT, Summer, 1988), the next decade was even more productive. And my uncle's reputation continued to grow. But for FRITZ REUTER & SONS, 1982 was especially telling. Sixty years had passed since the firm's 1922 beginning in The Hague. And the sixtieth anniversary year brought Gunther Reuter--and all at FRITZ REUTER & SONS--a new level of recognition.

In the fall of 1982, a world-wide competition of stringed instrument and bow makers convened at Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. It was held under the auspices of the Violin Society of America. The convention drew visitors and participants from many nations, and I am told that it was the largest of its kind then on record. All judging was conducted by an international panel that heard noted artists and ensembles (for example, the Fine Arts Quartet of the University of Wisconsin) demonstrate the tonal qualities of every instrument submitted.

Just where will you find our family in all this? On November 10, in the setting I've just pictured for you, my uncle was honored at a level which remains remarkable today. To talk in terms of more popular competitive events, this convention was--for the musical world--a kind of Olympiad. And Gunther Reuter actually received two Gold Medals, the first for a very special quartet:

Violin Stradivarius model Opus 312
Violin Stradivarius model Opus 313
Viola Stradivarius model Opus 314
Cello Stradivarius model Opus 315.

As you can quickly see, all four components of the quartet were Stradivarius model instruments. They had been brought to completion just a few days earlier, especially for the Salt Lake City event. And all four--honored by this first Gold Medal because of their exceptional tonal beauty--had been crafted to gratify the demand for visual beauty, as well. Even though I can't hold out even one of these instruments for you to look at, perhaps I can hint at their lovely appearance by saying that all four had been made from perfectly matched wood. Since this was 1982, I was old enough to be well aware of what was going on at REUTER & SONS. From personal experience, I can tell you that each of these instruments gratified the eyes, as well as the ears, of everyone I welcomed to our shop.

In addition to the ensemble award, the same international panel awarded my uncle, Gunther Reuter, a second Gold Medal. This one honored the quartet's cello as a Solo Instrument. When you think about it, it is remarkable for a single creation like this to be simultaneously singled out for its ensemble and its soloistic powers. When my uncle and my father considered the cello in this light, they felt--I know, simply from their comments--as though the family firm had itself received a medal, a third Gold Medal. Both of them were both humbled and profoundly grateful. Both looked upon the Gold Medals as a capstone in the histroy of FRITZ REUTER & SONS. Both could not help wishing for the impossible, that somehow their father were present to see what had come of his aspirations. And both felt a powerful sense of affirmation. Even amid practices which reduce too much of the violin business to a racket, there are times when the honorable dimension of our tradition and craft--the commitment that places the maker's art ahead of marketers' schemes--really does prevail.

I must quickly assure you of one thing. Neither my uncle, nor our firm, took the happy events of 1982 as an occasion to retire. My Uncle Gunter continues to be active and disciplined in his creation of new instruments, as does my father in following out his own commitment to the education of the musical public. With my father and my uncle, I--and the rest of us at REUTER & SONS--will keep on providing musicians and collectors with instruments and services which are true to our guild tradition, and to the honors and the trust we've been found worthy of throughout our history. Gunther Reuter's two Gold Medals are not only a mark of world-wide, public recognition. They are also emblems of the level of achievement to which we have always aspired--and always will.

So far, I have been introducing others. Now, I get to tell you something about myself--and move on to what I just called "the rest of us at REUTER & SONS." Since 1994, I have been President of our firm. I am as dedicated to upholding the European guild tradition as are my father and uncle--indeed, as was my grandfather. But I was born, not in Europe but in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. My high school work was done at Chicago's Albert G. Lane Technical High School ("Lane Tech"), from which I graduated in June of 1979.

Even so, I then turned to follow the path already marked out--thirty years earlier--by the previous generation of Reuters. My application for admission to Mittenwald's Geigenbauschule (Violin Making School) was accepted. And, from September of 1980 until February of 1984 (when I was awarded my Bachelor's Degree), I spent the academic year in study there. During the summers, however, I returned to Chicago--though not just for rest and relaxation! Through the summers of 1981-1983, I was employed part-time by FRITZ REUTER & SONS. I may have sold an occasional set of strings or talked with a customer who needed a bow rehaired, but my main task was quite different. I was continuing my education by working, as a violin maker, under the man who received those two Gold Medals: my uncle, Gunther Reuter. During that period, when I would return to resume my Geigenbauschule studies for the next academic year, I worked under some of today's most esteemed Masters: Karl Roy (the school's Director), Ferdianand Edbauer, Franz X. Reindl, and Josef Rieger III. Now I know what I'm about to say was mentioned, in passing, earlier. But it's an interesting fact--and relevant to the theme of tradition and continuity which has figured throughout these remarks--that I also worked under the demanding eye of the man who had, so much earlier, guided my father and uncle, both. Yes, I too studied under Andreas Furst.

For us at FRITZ REUTER & SONS, the concept of tradition is simultaneously enlivened by both our craft guild and our family. So the rest of my story fits right in with what you are probably expecting. Although I did not become President of the firm until 1994, I have been (since a full decade earlier, March of 1984) a full-time member of FRITZ REUTER--as a maker of new violins, as a restorer of older instruments, and as a repairer of both. For sure, I have no intention of leaving. Current and future customers can be confident that I will continue to be here, honoring our Reuter family legacy by helping them.

Robert Reuter, M.D., is my cousin--and the son of my Uncle Gunther and his wife, Marcia. Like me, Robert was born (1968) and educated in Chicago. If you had his resume in front of you, I think you'd immediately be impressed by the range of his interests. He received a B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. There, however, he was not a pre-med student but chose to major in German Language and Literature. Even as an undergraduate, he distinguished himself academically and, while at Illinois, became a recipient of its President's Award. He then enrolled in the University of Illinois College of Medicine; he again distinguished himself, and received the M.D. degree in May of 1996. He now practices medicine, primarily as a surgeon.

What my comments leave out is the time between high school and my cousin's college years. If you think about it, surgery and the crafting of violins both require active intelligence and skilled hands. Thus it is understandable that, for several years after high school (1985-1988), Robert worked--under his father--as an apprentice violinmaker. His decision to turn his talents toward surgery reflected no lack of skill as a luthier. Not at all. In fact, during the years I've just mentioned, Robert designed and created a number of instruments which were sold through our shop--instruments which are still being played by various musicians. Even today, one of those instruments occasionally pays a visit to our shop for adjustment and/or repair.

Because of this, we still think of Dr. Robert Reuter as, in some degree, a member of the family firm. And, should he make additional instruments in the future, he knows that we would gladly offer them for sale through our shop--and count each of the purchasers the lucky owner of an authentic Reuter instrument.

Now comes the last person that I am privileged to have you meet. Ruby J. Woolfolk has been helping us help others for some 38 [2006] years. She has never repaired or restored or made a violin (unless she is hiding a great secret from us!). But without her, there would be far less time for any of these things. We'd be surrounded by a lot more undone work.

When you call our shop, there's a good chance that it's her voice which will say, "Fritz Reuter & Sons. May I help you?" She handles all of our secretarial work, work that has grown in volume as our activities--including our large number of rental transactions--have burgeoned. She is the one who so often makes appointments, and who keeps our schedules organized enough that we can handle them. When people phone in inquiries and orders, she's the one who mails out information packets and supplies. In other words, she really manages the day-to-day details for our shop. Like every other member of our family/our firm, she's essential--and we are grateful to have had her caring, competent, dedicated assistance for so long.

Finally, I've come to the end of these introductions. I've enjoyed the chance to talk with you, and, as the saying goes, to put a face on the firm. The face, obviously, is many faces. If I'm allowed to repeat myself, I'll simply replay a couple of things. Since my grandfather undertook our initial, 1922 founding at The Hague, we have lived by an ethic--sometimes stated, sometimes simply understood--that marketing is far less important than making. Please do not misunderstand. I am not denying that we want to sell the instruments we buy from others, take on commission, or make. Of course we do. But we're not just marketing products, as though we could--with equal interest--be selling cars or boxes of corn flakes or high-end jewelry. For three generations, the making of violins--and providing all the services that go with this--have been a central focus within our family.

There are many dimensions to this. Instruments have to be made. Once made, whether three years or three centuries ago, they inevitably need repair and, sometimes, restoration. Moreover, people who want to purchase instruments--whether as investments or for use, as instruments they hope to enjoy playing--need information. Hype just creates confusion--and big profits for dealers who merely give lip service to codes of professional ethics. So, if people are going to enjoy some protection against paying exorbitant prices for damaged instruments, the information they get had better be accurate. This means, it seems to me, that people need to seek out and work with dealers who are makers. Moreover, those maker-dealers should be persons whose shop and business practices honor professional ethical codes and, therefore, merit a buyer's trust. In any case, once someone has purchased an instrument and has it in their hands, they will inevitably need appraisals and opinions from time to time--if only for insurance purposes.

All these things are important, though no one of us at FRITZ REUTER & SONS would pretend to do each of them with equal skill. But together--as a family, or perhaps I should again say, as an ensemble--we offer a range of services you can trust. We try hard to treat our customers the way we like to be treated. And now that I've introduced you to all of our members, I hope that you'll feel free to call, fax, write, or (best of all) stop in. Then you'll give me a chance to introduce the people you've just read about--this time, face-to-face. I, and the rest of us, would be happy to continue our discussion of the instruments, the craft, and the music we love.

Until that literal face-to-face meeting, let me tender many thanks--on my behalf, and on behalf of all of us at FRITZ REUTER & SONS--for the time you've taken to join us at our Web site.

Email: freuter@fritz-reuter.com

History	Fritz B. Reuter	Fritz Reuter, Jr.
Günther Reuter		Michael F. Reuter
Robert Reuter	Ruby Woolfolk	Conclusion

History	Fritz B. Reuter	Fritz Reuter, Jr.
Günther Reuter		Michael F. Reuter
Robert Reuter	Ruby Woolfolk	Conclusion

History	Fritz B. Reuter	Fritz Reuter, Jr.
Günther Reuter		Michael F. Reuter
Robert Reuter	Ruby Woolfolk	Conclusion

History	Fritz B. Reuter	Fritz Reuter, Jr.
Günther Reuter		Michael F. Reuter
Robert Reuter	Ruby Woolfolk	Conclusion

History	Fritz B. Reuter	Fritz Reuter, Jr.
Günther Reuter		Michael F. Reuter
Robert Reuter	Ruby Woolfolk	Conclusion