Guitar and bass brand Höfner – most famous for making Paul McCartney’s iconic violin bass – has filed for bankruptcy in Germany, according to new filing in the Fürth District Court in Bavaria reveals.
Few details about the insolvency have been made public, however the filing does reveal that “provisional insolvency administration” has been ordered for Karl Höfner GmbH & Co as of 10 December. An insolvency administrator has been appointed, who will proceed to attempt to rectify debts over the next three months. Höfner has been contacted for comment.
The company has a long and storied history. It was founded by Karl Höfner in 1887, in what was then the Austria-Hungarian town of Schönbach, and is now Luby in the Czech Republic. Over the next few decades, the company grew to be one of the largest suppliers of stringed instruments in the area and for export. Operations were unsurprisingly scaled back during World War II, and its facilities were put to use making supplies for the German army. Germany’s postwar reconstitution meant the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, and Höfner relocated to West Germany, opening a new factory in Bubenreuth in 1950.
The company would go on to expand its facilities across the 50s, 60s and 70s. Höfner was acquired by the Boosey & Hawkes group in 1994, which led to further expansion. In 2003, Boosey & Hawkes sold its musical instrument division, including Höfner, to the Music Group as part of a rescue buyout. In December 2004, Höfner was sold to long-time general manager Klaus Schöller and his wife, finance director Ulrike Schrimpff.
The brand has made countless different instruments across its history – including the popular Verithin semi-hollow electric –but one product has defined the company over the last six decades. The 500/1 bass guitar, AKA the Violin Bass is the instrument made most famous by Paul McCartney, who was seldom seen playing anything else while he was in the Beatles and it remains his signature instrument to this day.
It’s made the instrument by far Höfner’s most recognisable instrument – and one of the most recognisable instruments in the world – and has seen many other notable users since McCartney. McCartney’s first 500/1 bass has its own unique history – it was stolen in 1972, only to be found in an attic in Suffolk after nearly five decades of hunting.
Guitar.com has reached out to Höfner for more information about the circumstances surrounding the bankruptcy filing, but they did not respond in time for publication – we will update this article with any further developments as they appear.
Cillian is Guitar.com’s Senior Staff Writer, and has written news, features and reviews for Guitar.com since 2019. When not writing about guitars, Cillian spends their time building and modding pedals, rearranging their pedalboard and extolling the virtues of the ProCo RAT.
