Leopold Widhalm

Martin Leopold Widhalm (October 2, 1722 – June 10, 1776) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

. Born in

Horn, Austria Horn () is a small town in the Waldviertel in Lower Austria, Austria and the capital of the district of the same name. Population Sport 2008 Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, ...

, he worked on many old

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

lutes that inspired his later work in his manufacture of

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s and

violoncellos The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

between 1746 and 1776. Widhalm moved permanently to Nuremberg in 1745 to work at the instrument making shop of the late

Sebastian Schelle Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

(1676–1744) being run by his eldest daughter Barbara. The couple's working relationship became personal and resulted in marriage the following year. However, a prolonged legal battle ensued with

Leonhard Maussiell Leonhard may refer to: *Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), Swiss mathematician and physicist *Leonhard Hutter (1563–1616), German theologian *Karl Leonhard (1904–1988), German psychiatrist *Jim Leonhard (1982– ), American football safety *LEONHAR ...

(1685–1760), who objected to Widhalm taking over the business. When legal matters finally ended, Leopold and Barbara Widhalm created the largest and most successful

and

manufacturing operation in Nuremberg, noted for their outstanding quality. Following his death in 1776 and her death in 1781, their sons

Martin Leopold Widhalm Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

(1747–1806) and

Gallus Ignatius Widhalm Gallus may refer to: People *Saint Gall or ''Gallus'' (c. 550 – c. 646), Irish monk *Gallus Anonymus, 12th-century Polish historian * Gallus Mag, 19th-century female bouncer at a New York bar * Georg Gallus (1927–2021), German politician *Chr ...

(1752–1822) took over from him and a grandson,

Johann Martin Leopold Widhalm Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

(1799–1855) too became involved in the business. 1722 births 1776 deaths People from Horn, Austria Austrian luthiers Businesspeople from Nuremberg {{Austria-music-bio-stub