Hirsbrunner, a Swiss Family of Wind Instrument Makers

This article tells the history of the Hirsbrunner family of wind instrument makers. Over eight generations, 18 members of the same family were active in three different companies; emphasis is on the nineteenth century. Three Hirsbrunner brothers and their father began to manufacture wooden instruments shortly after 1800 in Sumiswald near Bern, brasswind manufacturing was added in 1819, valved brass as early as 1829. Three sons of one of the brothers continued with the company until it closed in 1880. Their cousin Johann Ulrich founded a second company nearby in 1847, concentrating on brass instruments. His younger son Friedrich took over the company and in 1900 moved it to the centre of Sumiswald (where it continues today); his elder son, Jakob, founded a third, smaller company in Aarau in 1870. Two generations later, this company closed in 1965. Some 150 signed Hirsbrunner instruments are extant from the nineteenth century and are given in an Appendix. Most of the c50 extant wooden instruments were made in the first half of the nineteenth century: the majority are stamped 'Hirschbrunner' (the dialect spelling of the family name); the other woodwind and all the brasswind instruments are inscribed 'Hirsbrunner'.