Breathing life into a legacy

The company's history dates back to the 17th century. The ancestors of the founders were violin makers and lived in the Klingenthal/Markneukirchen area (East Germany). In 1669, the name Hopf appeared for the first time in instrument making. The first verifiable violin maker of the Hopf family was Caspar Hopf (1655-1716).

His direct descendant Caspar Hopf II (1677-1711) was long regarded as the greatest talent in his profession and established the long family tradition of mastery with the introduction of the "HOPF" brand stamp. Since that time, the profession of violin maker has always been passed on from father to son. However, this legacy was interrupted by the early death of August Hermann Hopf (1859-1884).

It was then Ernst Max Hopf (1882-1956), a master music string maker, who continued the family tradition of Craftmanship in 1906. His son Willy Hopf (1906-1990), a string maker as well, added a musical instruments workshop and wholesale business to the stringmaker's shop he took over from his father in 1932 and continued this until the end of the 2nd world war. Soon after the war, he moved all business to the Wehen/Wiesbaden area (West Germany) and reopened a master workshop for guitars, violins and recorders.

His both sons, Dieter and Wolfgang, entered the business in the early 50s followed by Wolfgang's son Bernd who joined the business in the mid 1970s. It was Dieter who - as a master guitar maker - established the excellent reputation of Hopf guitars made in Germany and developed in the 1950s to 1960s various highly innovative electric guitar models like the Saturn 63.

The legendary history of these electric guitar models is now continued by the next generation of the Hopf family. In 2022, Christopher, Daniel and Patrick started with the rebirth of the legendary Hopf electric guitars. The first model is the Saturn 23, the modern reissue of the iconic Saturn 63.