HOYER Guitars — History of a legendary brand

1949 HOYER GUITARS. History of a legendary brand

“Germany’s leading guitar brand.” With that slogan Arnold Hoyer confidently appeared in a 1949 advertisement in the instrument-making journal. And rightly so. Through quality and innovation his master workshop for plucked instruments had, in a short time, earned exactly that excellent reputation in the post-war years. Arnold Hoyer could look back on a long family tradition in musical instrument making. Abruptly interrupted by the Second World War and its consequences, from 1945 he rebuilt the firm — originally based in the music town of Schönbach in the Egerland — in Tennenlohe near Bubenreuth in Middle Franconia. Many Hoyer models from the 1940s to the 1980s are still regarded as iconic instruments today.

Advertisement in the instrument-making journal, November 1949

1874 Established 1874 — a note beforehand

In 1949 Arnold Hoyer wanted to draw attention to his family’s long tradition in instrument making and first put forward the firm’s founding year of 1874, which has been held to ever since. He could also solemnly mark seventy-five years of the business. With that date he clearly referred to his grandfather Franz Hoyer. From today’s perspective it can no longer be fully reconstructed why he did not also invoke his great-grandfather, who had demonstrably founded a musical instrument business focused on bowed instruments and string spinning as early as 1838, while his father Josef Hoyer’s independent plucked-instrument workshop began in 1894. Since the guitar stood at the centre of Arnold Hoyer’s work, it seems likely that 1874 marks Franz Hoyer’s introduction of guitars into the firm’s range. For Arnold Hoyer, with his newly founded Bavarian firm, that was the decisive moment. Thus 1874 became the key year for Hoyer Guitars — a conclusion also suggested by the firm’s self-presentation in the Schönbach Heimatbuch of 1969.

Front of a pale green 1953 price list headed HOYER-GITARREN for Arnold Hoyer in Erlangen, with a laurel-wreath badge reading “75 JAHRE 1874–1949,” paragraphs addressed to music shops and customers signed Arnold Hoyer, and a footer promoting a special picture catalogue and the price list on the reverse. — Front of the 1953 price list noting the 75th anniversary celebrated in 1949

Printed page of German body text recounting Hoyer family history from 1874, ending in a large bold HOYER GUITARS logotype with the Erlangen postal address and telephone number below. — Advertisement in the Heimatbuch of the music town of Schönbach, 1969

1631 Roots in the Musikwinkel

In musical instrument making the family name Hoyer carries great resonance. All instrument makers of that name share roots in the Saxon-Bohemian instrument-making region known as the “Musikwinkel”, around Markneukirchen and Klingenthal in the Vogtland, Graslitz (today Kraslice) and Schönbach in the Egerland (today Luby u Chebu).

As early as the seventeenth century a major cross-border economic cluster in instrument making arose there. In Graslitz the region’s first violin maker is recorded in 1631. The first genuine violin makers’ guild anywhere was founded there in 1669. Many Graslitz guild members appear a few years later as religious refugees in the Markneukirchen guild founded in 1677. In 1716 Klingenthal likewise formed a violin makers’ guild. As a kind of re-import, violin making was transplanted from Saxony to Schönbach in the 1720s; over the nineteenth century Schönbach became the most important centre for string instruments and their parts and accessories. Members of various Hoyer families worked in almost every town. The name Hoyer has thus for centuries been closely bound to German instrument making.

Over the nineteenth century Schönbach rose to become the stronghold of string-instrument production in the Musikwinkel. Many trained violin makers specialised after their apprenticeship in parts, intermediate products or particular instruments, so trades soon differentiated sharply. Independent crafts such as body maker, neck carver, peg turner, guitar maker, zither maker or mandolin maker became ordinary. On that basis a wide range of string instruments could be brought to market in relatively high numbers and remarkably good quality — chiefly through Markneukirchen trading houses. But Schönbach itself also saw music-instrument trading firms arise. Arnold Hoyer’s great-grandfather, the violin maker Johann Josef Hoyer, founded one such firm.

Sepia vintage postcard of Schönbach framed by musical instruments: an arch of upright violins over a staff reading “mu-sik-stadt Schön-bach,” guitars and other instruments at the sides, and a wide view of the town’s rooftops and fields between two large upright string basses. — “A sky full of violins” — and of guitars: postcard of the music town of Schönbach from the 1920s Collection of Christian Hoyer

1838 J. F. Hoyer’s Sons — founded 1838

Around the turn of the century his firm traded as “J. F. Hoyer’s Sons”. It is the direct predecessor of “Hoyer Guitars”. The founders were Arnold Hoyer’s great-grandfather Johann Josef Hoyer (1815–1876) and his brother. Johann Josef was a trained violin maker. He soon added string spinning to violin production and finally opened a broad trading business in musical instruments. He was the first of his direct family line to take up instrument making; his ancestors had been furriers, coopers and millers.

After the two brothers, Franz Hoyer (1842–1878), Johann Josef’s son, continued the firm. Franz was a string spinner and instrument dealer. In Trieste in 1871 instruments from his house were awarded at the “Esposizione Agricolo-Industriale e di Belle Arti”. In the 1870s he was able to build an imposing residential and commercial house in Schönbach on Falkenauer Straße (No. 316), which remained the firm’s seat until the expulsion from Schönbach after the Second World War. Franz died in 1878 aged only 36. His wife Elisabeth Hoyer (1842–1920), née Mettal, continued the firm until daughter Rosalia Anna (b. 1867) and son Josef (b. 1870) entered and later took it over. Rosalia married Graslitz merchant Josef Wohlrab in 1890. In the mid-1890s the firm was divided between the siblings. Rosalia and Josef Wohlrab gradually moved the trading business to Graslitz, where it continued until 1945 (latterly as “J. F. Hoyer’s Grandsons”), while Josef Hoyer remained in the parental property in Schönbach and concentrated on producing plucked instruments.

Full-page multi-language 1897 advertisement for J. F. Hoyer’s Söhne of Schönbach, Bohemia, Austria, with German, English, Italian and French product text arranged around a diagonal central company band noting the founding year 1838. — Full-page advertisement from 1897 noting the founding year 1838, from the publication “Oesterreich’s Cremona” Collection of Christian Hoyer

Sepia panoramic postcard titled “Gruß aus Schönbach!” and labelled Leopoldshöhe, showing a hillside village with church tower, factory chimney, clustered houses, open fields, and two small figures standing on a dirt road in the middle ground. — Postcard of Schönbach looking onto Falkenauer Straße around 1900. No. 316 is the eighth house from the left Collection of Christian Hoyer

1894 Josef Hoyer’s plucked-instrument workshop since 1894

Josef Hoyer opened an entirely new chapter for the firm when in 1894 he established his own plucked-instrument workshop. His speciality was zithers and guitars. He had trained with his uncle. His maternal uncle Johann Mettal (b. 1846) had founded one of Schönbach’s best-known plucked-instrument dynasties in the 1860s. Mettal took the young half-orphan under his wing and gave him early insight into the craft. The guitars Franz Hoyer added to the range in 1874 almost certainly came originally from his brother-in-law’s Mettal workshop. Josef later perfected his skills with plucked-instrument and zither maker Josef Siebenhüner, then trained further with Schönbach maker Carl Loos, before qualifying and working for some years as a journeyman with Franz and Rudolf Siebenhüner. At 24 he finally set up on his own in Schönbach. He always gave that year as the founding year of his plucked-instrument workshop (not of the trading business or the string spinning): on price lists, in advertisements, on letterheads, and on the labels he glued into his instruments.

Rectangular wooden instrument label with gold lettering on dark wood: twin award seals for Hoheneibe 1896, “Gegründet 1894,” and “Josef Hoyer 316, Schönbach in Böhmen,” master workshop for instrument making and strings. — Instrument label noting the founding of the plucked-instrument workshop in 1894 Collection of Christian Hoyer

1900 First-class instruments and a guitar-making dynasty

Josef Hoyer was the first plucked-instrument maker in the family — restless, commercially astute and innovative. As early as 1896 he had his own stand at the North Bohemian trade exhibition in Hohenelbe (today Vrchlabí). His workshop was awarded a gold medal there. A year later in Bodenbach (today Podmokly) he received a silver medal.

Very few Schönbach makers took the arduous path of attending exhibitions. Josef sought direct contact with his customers. He was already printing his own catalogues in the 1890s. In 1897 a remarkable full-page advertisement in a Schönbach promotional booklet appeared in four languages: German, English, French and Italian.

In 1900 Josef opened a new chapter when on 20 November he married Marie Mayer. Six children reached adulthood. Three sons became plucked-instrument makers: Arnold (b. 1905), Rudolf (b. 1906) and Roman (b. 1912). As fashions turned against the zither, Josef concentrated on mandolins and increasingly on guitars. His letterhead now used “master workshop”, listing as specialities air-resonance zithers, master guitars and mandolins of artist quality.

Josef left nothing to chance in choosing tonewoods, buying them himself in the Carpathians and the Alps before the First World War. In 1913 he patented a development in Germany. At the German-Bohemian regional show in Komotau (today Chomutov) in 1913 he was again awarded a gold medal.

Letterhead of Josef Hoyer’s master workshop, c. 1910

1921 World war, recovery and the 1921 jubilee

The First World War marked a deep break. Production of musical instruments in Schönbach was drastically cut; many makers had to exchange tools for weapons. When the war ended after more than four years, nothing was as before. The German-Bohemian territories, including Schönbach, were incorporated into the newly founded Czechoslovak state.

Belonging to the new republic also brought advantages: as a victor state, doors to the West stood wide open. Josef immediately set about rebuilding. By 1921 his instruments were again present at the Vienna theatre and concert fair.

Somewhat delayed, Schönbach celebrated the 600th anniversary of its town charter in grand style in 1921. From 10 July to 18 August, 217 Schönbach exhibitors showed their work. Josef Hoyer, listed in the catalogue as a zither and guitar maker, showed three zithers and four gentlemen’s guitars.

Aged brown cover of the 1921 exhibition guide “FÜHRER durch die Ausstellung für Musik-Instrumentenbau” in Schönbach-Stadt (10 July–18 August 1921), with a small engraving of clustered musical instruments and admission including guide for 5 crowns. — Cover of the 1921 exhibition catalogue

Printed catalogue page 42 listing Schönbach exhibitors, including entry 166 for Hoyer Josef, zither and guitar maker at Falkenauerstraße 316, with three zithers and four gentlemen’s guitars among neighbouring makers. — Josef Hoyer’s entry on page 42 of the 1921 exhibition catalogue

1927 Monument, expansion and the workshop

The first half of the 1920s was a time of upward drive for Schönbach. In 1927, as an expression of regained confidence, the town raised its own violin makers’ monument in the centre.

Josef revived and expanded his workshop. In 1926 he advertised in Vienna’s “Zeitschrift für die Gitarre” for his master workshop for guitars and zithers. He likely raised the family house at Falkenauer Straße 316 by a storey and also used neighbouring No. 385 for production.

Sons Arnold (b. 1905), Rudolf (b. 1906) and Roman (b. 1912) entered the firm in turn. Arnold was formally apprenticed by 1919 at the latest. Josef’s reputation was such that many sought training with him. The first photograph of the Hoyer workshop, from the mid-1920s, shows eight people.

Sepia photograph of the violin makers’ monument: a standing figure holding a violin atop a large stone globe, in front of a pale building with “Fleischerei” lettering on the facade. — The violin makers’ monument in Schönbach Collection of Christian Hoyer

Black-bordered print advertisement for Josef Hoyer 316, master workshop for guitars and zithers in Schönbach, listing tone guitars for artists and several zither types, with an offer of a free price list. — Josef Hoyer advertisement in Vienna’s “Zeitschrift für die Gitarre”, 1 September 1926

Colour photograph of a three-storey peach-pink corner house with white window frames and flower boxes on a cobbled street under a cloudy sky, with a blue road sign pointing toward Sokolov. — The main Hoyer building at Falkenauer Straße 316, raised by a third storey in the late 1920s. Photograph from 2006 Christian Hoyer

Sepia interior of a crowded early-20th-century instrument workshop: about eight people at wooden benches with guitars and tools, unfinished bodies hanging on walls and from ceiling beams, daylight from a rear window. — Josef Hoyer’s workshop in the 1920s. Josef stands at the centre, surrounded by his wife, three sons and three further workers Collection of Christian Hoyer

1936 Crisis, archtops and the Cologne adventure

The Great Depression of 1929 devastated Schönbach instrument making. Production in 1932 fell by more than 60 percent against the 1920s. Josef Hoyer and his sons felt the crisis too.

Hope lay in new fashions. Many Schönbach makers, including Josef Hoyer, built ukuleles at scale. Somewhat later the American-influenced archtop style took hold. The Josef Hoyer firm developed several models in the early 1930s. Schönbach goods were often made for Markneukirchen houses — for example C. G. Glier & Sons under the “Cyrano” name.

Arnold decided to move to Cologne. Rudolf stayed in Schönbach and from about 1935 officially managed the family firm. By 1936 at latest Arnold and his wife settled on the Rhine. Son Walter Josef Hoyer was born in 1938 and baptised in Cologne Cathedral. At Am Eigelstein 88 Arnold ran a small workshop with a shop. The link between Schönbach and Cologne was close: woods, parts and knowledge flowed both ways.

1942 War again

The good times did not last. Hitler’s war cut the link to export markets. Most Schönbach instrument shops closed. By the end of 1940 the Hoyer works were temporarily shut down. Rudolf and Roman were drafted into the Wehrmacht.

Operation Millennium on 30/31 May 1942 heavily hit Cologne’s centre. Those experiences led Arnold to return to Schönbach during 1942. In the 1943 directory he is again at Falkenauer Straße 316 as a “guitar maker” — but he was not allowed to work in his trade. After an earlier accident in which he lost his right thumb, he worked in a case factory converted to ammunition crates.

When the US Army entered on 6 May 1945, the war ended in Schönbach. Music was a pastime for many G.I.s. Archtop guitars were of great interest — and Arnold Hoyer and the Americans soon “got into business”.

1945 To Bavaria on US trucks

With help from G.I.s, Arnold Hoyer left Schönbach westward as early as June 1945. His entire workshop inventory — tonewood, finished instruments and furniture — was loaded onto two US Army trucks and taken to Tennenlohe near Erlangen in Bavaria, against the background of expropriation and impending expulsion.

By July 1945 Arnold was in Tennenlohe. In the dance hall of the inn “Rotes Ross” he set up his workshop. Brought wood and tools allowed production to start in August 1945. At the end of October the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs officially opened the way for settling Schönbach’s small musical-instrument industry in the Erlangen district.

Black-and-white catalogue photograph of a busy guitar workshop with many workers at long benches, guitar bodies hanging from the ceiling and walls, and a red printed caption “TEILANSICHT DER WERKSTÄTTEN.” — In the inn “Rotes Ross”, the workshop could already be set up in August 1945 (image from the 1948 Hoyer catalogue)

Colour photograph of a white two-storey traditional inn with a steep brown tiled roof on a street corner, bare winter trees, an arched doorway with a small porch, and an adjoining outbuilding with red roof tiles. — Exterior of the inn “Rotes Ross”, 2004 Christian Hoyer

1949 Bubenreuth rises — Hoyer stays in Tennenlohe

The whole “Schönbach system” of division of labour and specialisation had to be transplanted. Efforts for a closed settlement in Tennenlohe first failed; Munich ordered Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald. Firms already established around Erlangen — not least Arnold Hoyer — refused to move again.

Only persistent rebuilding and Erlangen district administrator Hönekopp, newly elected in 1948, brought the groups together in the district. From October 1949 the “violin makers’ settlement” rose in Bubenreuth.

Arnold did not move to Bubenreuth after 1949; he stayed in Tennenlohe. By 1947 he had bought a larger plot and a year later built a house. Remarkably, shortly after currency reform he issued a catalogue regarded as the first in the trade in the post-war period. The cover showed what he understood: archtops.

Four-panel black-and-white postcard titled “Geigenbauersiedlung bei Erlangen,” showing rows of simple gabled houses on Schönbacher-Straße Süd, Schönbacher-Straße Nord and Kolbstraße among pine trees. — Postcard of the “Geigenbauersiedlung” in Bubenreuth, 1951 Collection of Christian Hoyer

Colour 1948 catalogue cover on deep red: large HOYER Gitarren title with a cream banner reading “MEISTERWERKE DEUTSCHEN ZUPFINSTRUMENTENBAUS,” and a brown archtop acoustic guitar with f-holes and a Hoyer-branded trapeze tailpiece. — Cover of the 1948 Hoyer catalogue

Black-and-white advertisement photograph of three smiling musicians—double bass, archtop guitar and accordion—with a handwritten German endorsement by Franz Nickel about a Hoyer guitar and red side copy for the radio cabaret “3 Original Nickels.” — Musician advertising in the 1948 Hoyer catalogue

1950 Archtop king in Germany

Arnold Hoyer built his reputation on first-class archtop guitars. He became a model for many other makers. His workshop became a top address for professionals and demanding amateurs. A reporter at the second German musical instrument fair in Mittenwald noted in 1950 that with imaginatively appointed rhythm guitars Arnold Hoyer of Tennenlohe near Erlangen made his mark. From then on he justifiably advertised with the slogan “Germany’s leading guitar brand”.

Iconic instruments such as the archtops “Herr im Frack”, “Solist”, “Meisterklasse”, “Spezial”, “Bianka” and “Fantastik” still testify to the ambition of his workshop. The re-founded guild elected him deputy master of the guild.

Colour catalogue page for the cutaway electric Bianka model on an orange-and-white target background, with a cutaway illustration of ribbed top construction, black pickguard and controls, plus German, English and French model notes. — Catalogue page featuring the “Bianka”, 1964

Close-up of a gold-stamped wooden authenticity label on reddish wood grain: a multi-pointed star around an oval reading “ORIGINAL ARNOLD Hoyer” and the German line “NUR ECHT MIT DIESEM ZEICHEN.” — “Original Arnold Hoyer” label, mid-1950s

Sepia studio portrait of older Arnold Hoyer in a dark suit holding an upright archtop guitar, beside young Walter Hoyer in a suit holding a cutaway archtop, with trilingual caption “Master Arnold Hoyer with his son.” — Arnold Hoyer with his son Walter Hoyer (from a mid-1950s catalogue)

1967 Walter Hoyer and the new beginning

After Arnold Hoyer’s early death, his son Walter Hoyer (1938–2026) took over management in 1967. He modernised production toward high-quality western and electric guitars. In 1966 he had passed his master examination. Under his leadership came models of the “HG” series and the unusual “Foldaxe” with a folding neck.

In difficult economic times bankruptcy had to be filed in 1976 despite the brand’s cult standing. Production continued for some years at the Erlangen Thalermühle until it finally ceased in 1987.

After the end in the 1980s, trademark rights first lay with a German music wholesaler and later a private owner in Germany. Since 2009 the historic brand has belonged to Martin Ritter, Singapore, who is working on a careful, long-term revival.

For decades Hoyer instruments found their way to professional musicians, collectors and well-known stage and studio productions. Historical Hoyer instruments still enjoy a special reputation among connoisseurs, collectors and players. That is what we build on.

Tall black-and-white advertisement for Original Arnold Hoyer guitars showing two light western-style acoustics—one six-string and one twelve-string—with Erlangen postal address at the foot. — Advertisement from the late 1960s featuring western guitars

Tall dark flyer cover featuring a cream solid-body electric guitar with dual humbuckers beside huge vertical white HOYERGUITARS lettering and a bright lens flare on the headstock. — Cover of the Hoyer flyer from the early 1970s

Colour photograph of a long white building complex with red-tiled roofs and shaped gables across a green meadow under a blue sky, with trees and spring blossom behind—the Erlangen Thalermühle. — The Erlangen Thalermühle: production site until 1987, photograph from 2026 Christian Hoyer

Timeline

1631 The first violin maker in the region is recorded in Graslitz (Kraslice).
1669 The first violin makers’ guild is founded in Graslitz.
1677 The Markneukirchen guild is founded.
1723 The first violin maker in Schönbach (Luby u Chebu) is recorded.
1838 Violin maker Johann Josef Hoyer (1815–1876) founds his musical instrument and string business in Schönbach.
1867 Franz Hoyer (1842–1878) takes over his father’s business.
1874 Franz Hoyer adds guitars to the range.
1878 The widow Elisabeth Hoyer (1842–1920) runs the business.
1890 Siblings Rosalia (b. 1867) and Josef Hoyer (1870–1956) continue the firm.
1894 Josef Hoyer founds a workshop for plucked instruments.
1896 Gold medal for Josef Hoyer in Hohenelbe (Vrchlabí)
1897 Silver medal for Josef Hoyer in Bodenbach (Podmokly)
1913 Gold medal for Josef Hoyer in Komotau (Chomutov)
1919 Arnold Hoyer (1905–1967) begins an apprenticeship with his father Josef Hoyer
1936 Arnold Hoyer opens a workshop and shop in Cologne; brother Rudolf Hoyer runs the Schönbach works.
1942 Arnold Hoyer returns with his family to Schönbach
1945 Arnold Hoyer and family leave Czechoslovakia
1945 Relocation to Bavaria and production begins in Tennenlohe under Arnold Hoyer
1948 First post-war catalogue: models “Solist” (No. 20), “Herr im Frack” (No. 16), “Meisterklasse” (No. 15) and an electric Hawaiian guitar (No. 22) among others.
1949 Founding of the violin makers’ settlement in Bubenreuth
1953 The Hoyer-Spezial (No. 24) enters the range, as does a “fully electric guitar” with pickup and built-in amplifier (No. 25)
1957 Registration of the “Arnold patent bridge”
1958 Introduction of the “Bianka” (No. 44)
1960 Introduction of the tubular guitar “Fantastik” (No. 55)
1961 First solid-body guitars
1967 Walter Hoyer (1938–2026) takes over management of the firm.
1977 Introduction of the Foldaxe
1977 Start of the HG series
1979 Eagle guitar and bass
1985 Numerous new models including Dreamer and Stax
1987 Production ceases
2009 Martin Ritter, Singapore, acquires the trademark rights
2026 Re-launch of Hoyer Guitars