My first year as a journeyman was organised in the style of the traditional travelling years of craftsmen. I visited five workshops in the Netherlands, Norway and Ireland. There I learnt about violin making outside the traditional framework, different methods and approaches and helped with projects on site. I also focussed on building my own instrument, a Hardanger fiddle, a Norwegian folk instrument, which was made across the various workshops.

In the Netherlands, I made the neck with a carved fox head and fern ornaments on the pegbox. Under the guidance of Gesina Liedmeier, I learnt step by step how to think about the form, how to let it in and how to implement it calmly in three-dimensional carving.

In the next workshop, at the fiddle makers of the Ole Bull Academy in Voss, Norway, I made the body. Wiebke Lüders and Lukas Pawelka showed me the small but important differences to traditional violin making. This is also where I created the design for the drawings that were to be applied to the body during my internships in Norway.

A corona infection interrupted the process of finishing the Hardanger fiddle at this point, so that the varnishing was carried out in Ireland by Dominic Lyons on an instrument that was already different. Here, oil varnish was boiled and processed according to a 300-year-old tradition. The pattern of a historical violin was imitated using a technique known as "antiquing".

As a journeywoman's piece, I made a violin based on the "Betts" model by Antonio Stradivari. This violin is often described as one of his most outstanding instruments and is repeatedly praised in the literature for its perfection, authenticity and outstanding quality of construction, material and design. The impressive aura of the instrument prompted me to choose it as the model for my companion piece. While particular emphasis was placed on accuracy to the model in design details such as the corners, the f-holes and the scroll, modern requirements were taken into account, especially with regard to sound and playing characteristics.

In the course of the work, I worked intensively on the model and made a technical drawing by hand, which contained all the dimensions on a 1:1 scale. One work step was also described in detail. The focus here was on working out the corners, as these particularly characterise the image and expression of the instrument in the "Betts". All work steps and discussions were precisely documented in the portfolio.

Portfolio file:

In preparation for the time pressure of the journeyman's piece, I took on a very special project together with three other trainees: building a complete violin in just one weekend.

Each of us dedicated ourselves to one part, as the violin can be divided into four parts: the top, the back, the ribs and the neck. The finished parts were then put together piece by piece.

But the focus of the project was not only on the time aspect, we wanted to set an example for sustainability in violin making. When building the violin, we completely avoided the use of tropical woods such as ebony or rosewood and instead used local woods and substitute products. We were supported by the Sonowood company, which provided us with modified wood that meets the hardness and durability requirements of ebony. The project is an inspiration to make violin making more sustainable.

https://www.handwerksblatt.de/themen-specials/so-nachhaltig-ist-das-handwerk/geigentoene-mit-freundlicher-genehmigung-des-umweltschutzes

The bachelor's thesis dealt with the origins and early development of the archaic minstrel's instrument into the violin as we know it today. In particular, it focused on research into the Alemannic school, an early type of violin making in the region from Switzerland to southern Germany. The Alemannic School shows astonishing similarities to violin making techniques in different parts of the world, the origins of which were examined in the course of the work. In addition, conventional views of the origins of the violin were critically scrutinized in relation to these results. An excerpt of the work can be read in the link below.

The main inspiration for the subject of the work was the research of Olga Adelmann, the first German female master violin maker, who was also a great role model for Lina Goldbach during her apprenticeship.