A Beautiful IV-R (1718) Ernst Heinrich Roth Violin, 1956.

There are few places in the world with a historic tradition of violin making as long and rich as the Saxon town of Markneukirchen, stretching back to the mid 17th century and to the formation of the first associated guilds. In the same way that Chinese instruments have flooded the marketplace today and set a standard for entry level commercial instruments, 19th century making in Markneukirchen flourished and fueled the expansion of the classical music industry. By the end of the 19th century, Markneukirchen alone produced upwards of two hundred thousand violins for worldwide export annually, half of which were bound for the United States. Ernst Heinrich Roth I (1877-1948) was well versed as a musician and studied under several violin makers across Europe, including his father, Gustav Robert Roth, who established the family workshop in 1873. In 1902 at the age of 25 he started his own firm with his cousin, Gustav August Ficker and was producing 13 grades of violins just two decades lat