About me

Born in 1996, I completed my Abitur at the Freie Waldorfschule Berlin-Havelhöhe / Berlin-Kreuzberg. Even then, it was clear: my many years of violin playing, which I began at age six, combined with a passion for artisanal craftsmanship and an interest in the scientific, physical, and historical aspects, all came together in my career aspiration—violin making.

This idea carried me through my studies in Music Management at Saarland University, where I focused on topics in musicology as well as modern project management. In 2019, I wrote my bachelor’s thesis on the violin-making tradition of the "Alemannic School," dedicating myself to a previously little-researched area of historical violin craftsmanship.

After completing my studies, I began my apprenticeship as a violin maker and completed it in 2022 under the master violin maker Andrea Masurat in Lübeck. I attended vocational school in Mittenwald, the cradle of the German violin-making tradition.
Following the tradition of the artisanal wandering years, I then embarked on a year during which I completed five internships in Norway, Ireland, and the Netherlands. In addition to numerous repairs and participation in new construction projects, each of these internships had a different focus: With Gesina Liedmeier In Velp, Netherlands, I focused on historical instruments as well as woodcarving art. With Wiebke Lüders und Lukas Pawelka In Voss, Norway, I attended the Ole Bull Academy, one of the most renowned Hardanger fiddle workshops and a key center for Norwegian folk music and art. With Magnus Nedregard I participated in the international "Master to Master" symposium and gained valuable experience in the restoration of historic violins. In the heart of Irish folk music, the coastal town of Galway, I visited the oldest resident instrument maker there, Paul Doyle and there I especially learned how to carry out repairs with a strong focus on the needs of folk musicians. With Dominic Lyons In Knockabeha (Co. Kerry), Ireland, I focused intensively on varnishing a violin in an antique style and also attended one of the largest Irish folk festivals, the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay.

Since summer 2023, I have been working independently as a violin maker and continue to engage in international collaborations and close exchanges with colleagues from different generations and countries. I regularly play at traditional Irish sessions myself, keeping me constantly connected to the heartbeat of the music for which I craft my instruments.

Network

Violin making is characterised above all by its historical focus. Around 400 years ago, the great masters such as Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri or Stainer determined the models that are still made in almost every violin making workshop today. It seems as if the ideal, the perfect stringed instrument, had been found. The possibilities for documentation were limited at the time, and over the generations, affected by wars and epidemics, knowledge about wood and varnish, about harmonic relationships and the shaping of sound was lost.

For a long time, research into ancient knowledge tended to take place on an individual basis. Since the beginning of the 21st century, this pattern seems to be slowly changing. New research is being shared and welcomed, and research and working groups are forming across national borders, especially among younger generations. Lina Goldbach is also part of this new movement. Together with other violin makers, a network is emerging that is expanding more and more and whose members are actively exchanging ideas. Knowledge is exchanged, experiments are carried out together and plans are made to increase international exchange. In this way, they contribute to the progress of violin making and benefit from the motivation, experience and skills of others.