Lutherie

My Space: Jan & Matthijs Strick

2021-05-25T21:21:00

MySpaceMain

The luthiers, based in Brussels, Belgium, work in what they believe is the oldest workshop in Europe

Our business, Maison Bernard, was founded in 1868 in Liège by the brothers Nicolas and Victor Bernard. They focused on making pianos but under Nicolas’s son André, who trained at Gand & Bernardel in Paris, the firm came to specialise in violin making. André’s sons Joseph and Jacques ran the business from 1930 until 1986, when Jacques handed it over to his apprentices Jan Strick and Pierre Guillaume. That was when the business relocated to this building in Brussels. Now Jan and Matthijs run the violin workshop while Pierre and his son Simon have the bow making department downstairs. We think that this is the oldest luthier workshop in Europe…

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