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In Focus: A 1923 violin by Michael Dötsch

11 April 2025

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Rainer Michael Cocron examines an early 20th-century instrument by the German maker

Born in 1874, Michael Dötsch initially trained with Michael Kohlbacher in Schönbach, Saxony. He worked for several European workshops before moving to Berlin in 1909, where he started working for Erich Lachman. There he perfected his skills, probably for the first time having access to very fine old Italian instruments and studying them closely. Dötsch set up his own workshop in 1914 in Wilmersdorf, a borough of Berlin. His reputation for making top-quality instruments grew quickly as he was highly regarded by the local musicians of the time, who carried his name far beyond the city of Berlin…

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