Höfner

Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, double basses and bows for stringed instruments.

Much of Höfner's popularity is attributed to Paul McCartney's use of the Höfner 500/1 bass throughout his career. This violin-shaped model is commonly referred to as the "Beatle bass."

Company history

The Höfner company was founded by luthier Karl Höfner in the city of Schönbach in 1887, at a time when the city, later to become part of Czech, was populated by Germans. He soon became the largest manufacturer of string instruments in the country. His sons Josef and Walter joined the company around 1920, and began spreading the brand's reputation worldwide. The company became involved in production for the Germany army in World War II producing wooden crates and soles for boots. After the war Germans were expelled from the Sudetenland and Hofner was forced to move to West Germany. The company initially moved to an ex-work camp at Möhrendorf in 1948 but soon became involved in the development of a new township and factories in Bubenreuth. The new Höfner factory was opened in 1950. This was expanded three times between 1953 and 1960. Karl Höfner, the founder, lived to see the company revival and died in Bubenreuth in 1955. In 1964 a further factory was built at Hagenau about 5 km from Bubenreuth. This was used for the machining of wooden parts that were then assembled at Bubenreuth. The factory at Hagenau was expanded twice in the 1970s.

Hufner

A Hufner, also spelt Hüfner, was a farmer in medieval Europe who managed one or more oxgangs (German: Hufe) as his own property.

The actual names of these members of the farming community varied from region to region. In the Low Saxon dialect region the term Hovener or Hofener was used, in the Central German region they were mainly known as Hufner or Hüfner and in the Upper German region as Huber. In many areas, completely different names were also used, such as Ackermann, Pferdner or, in the Upper Saxon region, even besessene Mann or besessene Männer.

The Hufner was a full member of the community of farmers; he had a say in that community and was allowed to use the commons. In the social hierarchy of the village the Hufners, as full farmers (Vollbauern) and owners of a farmstead with, depending on the region, 30 to 100 morgens of land, ranked above the gardeners and the tenant farmers or Häuslern.

A host of surnames are derived from these occupational names and their regional variations. The most common of these is the name Huber, which, in the German-speaking world, is one of the five to ten most common surnames and is especially widespread in South Germany, Switzerland and Austria. As a result of regional variations in pronunciation of the surname Huber, other surnames have developed including Huemer, Humer, Haumer, Huebmer and Hueber. Also common are the forms Höf(f)ner and Hüb(e)ner.