Siegfried Finkel

Bow maker
(1927 – 2010)

Siegfried Finkel (1927–2010) was a German-born bow maker who established the Finkel workshop in Switzerland and became an important link between the German bow-making tradition of Markneukirchen and the later Swiss school centred around Brienz.

Born in 1927, Finkel came to Markneukirchen after the Second World War and entered the workshop of Paul Weidhaas, whose family had been active ...Read More in bow making since the nineteenth century. He trained under Weidhaas and later married his daughter, Hanna. Their son Johannes Siegfried Finkel was born in Markneukirchen in 1947.

In 1952, following the establishment of communist rule in East Germany, Siegfried and his family left Markneukirchen for Switzerland. They settled in the Bernese Oberland, close to the violin-making school at Brienz, where Siegfried developed what became the Finkel bow workshop. Establishing the business in a new country required considerable persistence, but the workshop gradually acquired an international reputation and became one of the most important centres of bow making in Switzerland.

Finkel's work retained the disciplined construction and technical precision of the Markneukirchen tradition while showing an awareness of French models and playing characteristics. His workshop produced bows for an international clientele and, at various periods, supplied dealers including Rembert Wurlitzer, Vidoudez, Jacques Français and Kenneth Warren. A number of accomplished bow makers also worked in the shop during his tenure.

Siegfried continued working in Schwanden until his retirement in 1984, when responsibility for the workshop passed to his son Johannes. Through Johannes and subsequently his granddaughter Daniela, the workshop has continued a family bow-making tradition extending across five generations. Read Less

Price History

- The auction record for this maker is $6,218 in Mar 2025, for a cello bow.
- 105 auction price results.

View all auction prices for Siegfried Finkel

FULL SIZE