The Waldzither

Index to this page
• General information
• Waldzither styles and sizes
• Identifying and dating Böhm waldzithers
• Playing the Waldzither
• Buying a Waldzither
• Parts and accessories
• Sources

The Waldzither

This article was created 23-06-2009 and last updated 08-10-2009

General information

The waldzither is a direct descendant of the 16th century renaissance cittern. Unlike most other countries, Germany has a well documented cittern history (much thanks to Prof. Dr. Andreas Michel at the Leipzig University) and we can follow its development through the last half-millenium with no large breaks in the evolutionary chain.

Originally a four course instrument, the German cittern tended to aquire more bass strings during the 17th and 18th centuries - just like most other stringed instruments at that time. The waldzither can have up to six single bass strings or none at all but one is by far the most common.

The German word for cittern is "Zither." However, around 1800 or so people started using the Zither name for a completely different instrument, previously known as the scheitholtz. This meant they had to come up with a different word for the instrument that originally went by that name, such as "halszither" (neck cittern), "harzzither" (after a region in Germany) "Thüringer zither" (after another region in Germany) or "waldzither" (forest cittern). All these four terms were used during the late 19th century for slightly different variants:

Waldzither or Thüringer Zither

The basic South German cittern, especially associated with Thüringen. Simple no-nonsense build with many construction details in common with the old renaissance and baroque citterns.

Harzzither

A more elegant instrument with a smaller body and often elaborately decorated.

Halszither

A Swiss speciality still used in Switzerland today. Hard to define properly. Some look like traditional waldzithers, some like harzzithers but most have narrow-waisted guitar style bodies. Halszithers tend to have more strings than waldzithers but that's not an absolute rule.

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Waldzither styles and sizes

Sizes

• The very rare piccolo waldzither is the smallest. It's tuned in an open C major chord:
  c' g' c'' e'' g''
• The soprano waldzither is slightly larger than a mandolin. The standard tuning is open G:
  g d' g' b' d''
  This tuning is known as the "Bergmanns-Stimmung" ("miner's tuning").
• The tenor waldzither is roughly the size of a large alto mandola and by far the most common size today. Perhaps it shuld be called an alto rather than a tenor but it's too late to do anything about that by now.
  Standard tuning is open C:
  c g c' e' g'
  It can also be tuned in open D:
  d a d' f#' a'
  The open C tuning is sometimes referred to as the "Jäger-Stimmung" ("hunter's tuning") or "Lutherzither-Stimmung" (the lutherzither is another old German fretted instrument).
• The bass waldzither is quite rare and tuned in open G or open A:
  G d g b d'
  or
  A e a c#' e'
• (The walddoline is not a waldzither at all. It's a wide-bodied portuguese style mandolin with a plexiglass bridge and simplified Preston tuners.)

Styles

Vogtland waldzither

Until ww ii the Vogtland region with the towns Markneukirchen and Klingenthal was the center of the world's musical instruments industry, possibly making more instruments of all kinds than the entire rest of the world combined. The waldzithers manufactured there during the first decades of the 20th century were of a distinctive kind, probably based on the harzzither but also borrowing from the newly invented flattop mandolin (or the other way round - it's not clear whether the flattop mandolin predates the Vogtland waldzither.) Later they started copying Böhm's Hamburger style but they also kept building their own kind of waldzither at least until ww ii.

• 8-9 strings (usually 9)
• soprano or tenor
• construction similar to a modern flattop mandola/mandolin

From an organologic point of view the 8-stringed variant is a bit problematic since it raises the unanswerable question: what exactly is the difference between a cittern and a mandola?

Thüringer waldzither

Traditional style waldzithers remained in production well into the 1930s. Th. Heym in Suhl is perhaps the best known of the later manufacturers but there were others too.

• 9 or 14 strings
• soprano or tenor
• elongated head
• "P profile" neck
• Upper frets in a weird but consistent spacing pattern

Hamburger or Böhm waldzither

Invented by C. H. Böhm towards the end of the 19th century in an attempt to revive the dying waldzither tradition. Curiously Böhm didn't base his design on the existing waldzither. Instead he copied the portuguese guitar. The earliest Böhms are basically just scaled down portuguese guitars. Later he simplified the design (introducing the unique "clockwork key" variant of the Preston mechanism among other things).
Characteristic of all Hamburger Waldzithers are:

• always 9 strings
• no sopranos, just tenors
• curved fretboard profile
• very wide body - almost as wide as it's long

Typical for Böhm's own instruments are:

• Preston tuners (portuguese or "clockwork key" style)
• plexiglass bridge
• round soundhole

Hamburger waldzithers from other manufacturers may or may not share one or more of these characteristics.

Modern waldzither

Waldzithers are still made today by at least one factory and several independent luthiers. These are usually built in a hybrid style with construction details both from the the Vogtland and the Hamburger style.

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Identifying and dating Böhm waldzithers

The Böhm waldzither is probably the one most commonly found today and many people seem to associate the waldzither term only with this particular style. They can be rather tricky to identify properly since they didn't change much throughout the years and the different models look rather similar. Key identification details are the tuners, the tailpiece, the soundhole purfling, the head shape and the label.

• Tuners
  • The earliest Böhms - from 1897 to around 1900 - had regular Preston tuners with thumbscrews, similar to those of the portuguese guitar.
  • Around 1900 Böhm simplified the construction and introduced the unique "clockwork key" mechanism. This was used for all Böhm instruments from then on until the factory closed down in 1935 and also for most Gewa made instruments from 1935 to the 1960s.
  • Gewa made Böhm style waldzithers with regular mandolin tuners. At least some of these carried the Böhm brand name.
• Tailpiece
  • Böhm seems to have used simple bracket style tailpieces although the earliest intruments he made may have had a more elaborate shield style tailpiece.
      There are two distinctively different styles but it's not clear exactly when they were in use. The square shaped one with the string order no. stamped onto it is clearly the most recent of them though.
  • Gewa used shield style tailpieces (made by Musima). At first they seem to have just put regular mandolin tailpieces on their waldzithers (with only eight hooks so you had to place two of the strings on the same hook). Later they used a special tailpiece with nine hooks.
• Soundhole purfling
    Distinctively different between various models but without pictures I can't really go into detail. There are plenty of examples of the different kinds in the Studia Instrumentorum and Musica Viva instrument galleries though.
  
• Peghead
    Very early Böhms, and later Model 3 and 4's has a portuguese guitar inspired scroll head. Cheaper models and all Gewas has the characteristic spade shaped head.
• Label
  • The earliest Böhm waldzithers have an offwhite/yellow/beige label printed in red and black.
  • During the first decade of the 20th C. (with a year or two leeway) a black label printed in gold was used. Three different variants of this design are known. Instruments with this kind of label can usually be dated fairly exactly. Some of them have regular Preston tuners which means they have to be very early. Most have labels that mention the walddoline which means they must have been made after 1903.
  • Most Böhm waldzithers have a yellowish/beige label printed in black or dark brown. There are at least six different variants of this label. All mention the walddoline as well as the waldzither, include the factory's address at Stentorweg 2, Hamburg and have the brand name "C. H. Böhm."
    • Early labels give the company's phone number as "GR. 4. 6825"
    • In 1918 the phone company changed their numbering system and Böhm's phone number became "Alster 6825." Labels with the old phone number may still have been used for a while though.
    • Before 1926 Böhm made slight modifications to the label. Hard to describe all the changes without illustrations.
    • In 1931 the phone number was changed on more time, this time to "242375."
        Again, old labels with outdated phone numbers may well have been used for a while. The label with this new phone number also had several other changes.
  • When Gewa bought the Böhm name in 1935 they removed the "C. H. Böhm" name and the Hamburg address from the label for obvious reasons. Early Gewa labels still mention the walddoline even though Gewa never made or sold that instrument. These labels also have a bluish tint to them, not found on any C. H. Böhm labels.
  • At some point Gewa changed the label slightly, removing the Walddoline reference and changing the colour scheme back to the brownish one of the C. H. Böhm labels. Exactly when Gewa did this is not clear.
• Varnish
    As far as I know, nobody have researched the various varnishes used by Böhm but we have some general information:
  • Before 1921 resin based varnishes were the standard for factory made instruments. Some expensive instruments may have used more exotic "violin varnishes"
  • Nitrocellulose laquer was invented in 1921 and soon became the standard.
  • Modern synthetic varnishes started to appear around 1950.
    So, if your Böhm is coated with resin, it was probably made before - say 1923. If it has a nitrocellulose finish, it can't possibly be earlier than 1921 (unless it has been refinished of course) and if has a synthetic varnish, it can't be earlier than c. 1950 - and most likeley no earlier than the 1960s.
  
• Böhm models
    During the early years Böhm seems to have tweaked his design continuously and it's hard to classify these instruments in detail. However, as soon as he reached his final design, the model range seems to have remained fairly stable for 30 years or more:
  • An unnamed budget model (the one usually found on eBay auctions etc.)
  • Model 1A
    • "fishbone" pattern soundhole purfling
    • "white" glass bridge
    • Simple dot position markers
    • No marquetry/pickguard
  • Model 1B
    • "triangle" pattern soundhole purfling
    • "white" glass bridge
    • Simple dot position markers
    • No marquetry/pickguard
  • Model 1C
    • "wave" pattern soundhole purfling
    • "white" glass bridge
    • Simple dot position markers
    • No marquetry/pickguard
  • Model 2
    • more elaborate position markers
    • still no marquetry/pickguard
  • Model 3
    • scroll head
    • same position markers as Model 2
    • leaves/flower pattern marquetry/pickguard
    Model 4
    • scroll head
    • really fancy position markers
    • butterfly pattern marquetry/pickguard
  • Custom models
    • anything the customer desired
• Gewa models
    As far as I know, nobody has yet looked in detail at the various Gewa made models.
• (Walddoline digression
    Böhm made only two models of these, easy to tell apart since Model 1 doesn't have a marquetry plate while model 2 does.)

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Playing the Waldzither

Right hand

Left hand

Chords

    F           F7           Fm
0   0        0            0   0
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | 1 |    | | | 1 |    | 1 | 2 3
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| 2 | | 3    | 2 | | 3    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | 4 | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+

    C           C7           Cm
0 0 0 0 0    0 0 0 0      0       0
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | 3    | | 1 2 |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | 4 | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+

    G           G7           Gm
x 0          x 0          x 0
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | 1 |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | 1 | |    | | 2 | |    | | 1 | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | 2 |    | | | | 3    | | | 2 3
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | 3    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+

    D           D7           Dm
                 0        x 
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | 1 |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
1 1 1 1 1    1 2 | 3 4    | 2 3 | 4
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+

    A           A7           Am
x     0            0 0    0   0 0
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | 1 | |    | | 1 | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| 2 1 | 3    | 2 | | |    | 1 | | 2
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+

    E           E7           Em
x     0      x     0      x     0 0
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | 1    | | | | 1    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | 2 | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| 3 4 | |    | 4 | | |    2 3 4 | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+
| | | | |    | | | | |    | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+    +-+-+-+-+

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Buying a Waldzither

New, factory-made

New, hand-made

Second-hand

Old Hamburger waldzithers

• Make sure all the hardware is present and in good condition. It's almost impossible to find replacement tuners and bridges.
• Make sure there are no serious cracks in the top
• If the bridge needs to be adjusted, you can do that by placing pieces of paper or cardboard underneath it. (It's OK, Böhm did that himself.)
• Remember that you need a key for the tuners. If you're handy enough, you make one yourself - or you may find a watchmaker who still have an old stock of suitable ones. If you're really, really lucky you might even stumble across an original Böhm tuner key.
• An instrument with Preston tuners need double loop end strings of exactly the right length. Even if you buy a string set specifically for a Hamburger waldzither, you still can't be sure if it fits the scale of your instrument. Better get yourself one of those cool loop end making tools (available from any portuguese guitar specialist) right away.

Böhm

The original Böhm waldzither has a sweet, delicate tone and is a very playable instrument (provided it's in good condition of course).

Plückthun

Herrmann Plückthun seems to have been a dealer rather than a manufacturer and it's unclear who actually made the instruments carrying his name.
  The Plückthun waldzither looks very similar to the Böhm but with a decorative panel (often rather elaborate) inserted into the top between the soundhole and the bridge.
  According to Andi Wetzel the Plückthun has a louder and fuller tone than the Böhm but it's also a more demanding instrument to play. Generally he prefers his Plückthuns for ensemble music and his Böhms for playing at home.
  The Plückthun is Martina Rosenberger's favourite instrument.

Old Vogtland waldzither

Old Thüringer waldzither

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Parts and accessories

Strings

Course no.:  mm.
1 (g')       0.2
2 (e')       0.3
3 (c')       0.4
4 (g)        0.5
5 (c)        0.9

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Sources

• Books
  • Martina Rosenberger: Das Waldzither-Puzzle (2nd revised edition) (Martina Rosenberger, 2004 ?)
  • Martina Rosenberger: Das Waldzither-Puzzle vol. 2 (Martina Rosenberger, 2005)
  • Wilhelm Wobersin: Schule für die Thüringer Waldzither (Zimmermann, 1922)
  • Hermann Christoph Christian Böhm: I. Schule für Böhm-Waldzither (C. H. Böhm, 1930)
  • Paul Merkelt: Marsch-Album für Waldzither, Heft 4 (Domkowsky & Co, 1926)
• Sites
  • Studia Instrumentorum Musicae
  • Waldzither.de
  • eBay
• MailLists
  • The cittern mail list
  • Cittern Yahoo Group
  • Fretted Friends Yahoo Group
• People
  • Martina Rosenberger
  • Christian Steinbrecher
  • Andi Wetzel

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