The founder of the workshop was Herman Alexander Poellmann (1864-1937). In 1888, he established his company in Siebenbrunn, a city near marneukirchen, to concentrate on making double basses. His son, Erich Max Poellmann (1897-1963) grew up in the workshop and began working with his father in 1911. In 1920, Erich decided to open his own shop in the house of his father-in-low, August Ernst Voigt, a violin maker. Who was located in Jagelsburg near Adorf Vogtland.
By 1940 E.M. Poellmann moved back to Markneukirchen and in 1944 he received his master’s degree. Erich was well known as an excellent craftsman. His basses are renowned for their large orchestral sound.
Erich Poellmann is also the maker who began the fine ornamentation on the tops and backs of his instruments. Gunter Krahmer, born in 1938, is the third generation maker of Poellmann double basses. He is the nphew of Erich Max Poellman and the grandson of August Ernst Voigt. Gunter worked with his uncle form 1952-1959. After obtaining his master’s degree in 1959, he left the former East Germany and moved to Mittenwald in the Bavarian Alps, where he lives today.
The fourth generation of bass makers is represented by Gunter’s sons Michael and Ralph Krahmer. They also grew up working in their father’s shop.
After abtaining their master’s degrees, they set off on their own, though collaboratingclosely. Michael opened his own shop in Mittenwald with a beautiful view of the mountains, while Ralph remains in his fatehr’s original shop in the Bavarian village of Neumarkt, St. Veit, about an hour away. Michael and Ralph have continued the poellmann tradition, as well as adding to their illustration past by trying new things.
If you have the the opportunity to get to know the “Krahmers boys” you will find they are first-rate gentleman, craftsmen, hard workers and best friends. As brothers, they have an exceptional relationship for working together. Their workshops are separated by the mountain, but are united artistically and personally. Both men have a love of the art of bass making, and a special appreciation of the wood and materials necessary for their constructions. A fifth generation of Poellmann is already spending time in their fatehr’s shop and the Krahmer family has enough wood scored to produce well over a thousand more basses.