Emil Herrmann
American luthier
Emil Herrmann (February 2, 1888 – September 5, 1968), also written as Emil Hermann, was a prominent dealer and restorer of violins in New York City. Nearly all of the most famous instruments passed through his hands at one time or another in his career, including literally hundreds made by Antonio Stradivari, Jacob Stainer, and the Amati and Guarneri families. He taught and employed later influential figures in the violin trade such as Simone Sacconi and Hans Weisshaar.
Biography
Herrmann was born in Tauberbischofsheim, Germany, the son of August Herrmann, who was also a stringed instrument dealer. He played violin from boyhood, studying with Leopold Auer, Otakar Ševčík, and Eugène Ysaÿe. He began traveling as a dealer for his father's business when he was 18. He was in the German army during World War I and spent time as a prisoner of war in Dauriya. He opened his own violin shop in Berlin after the war and launched his first store in New York City in 1923. He maintained both shops and expanded to Chicago and San Francisco before 1929. After World War II, he moved his stock and his business to Easton, Connecticut.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Emil Herrmann” is american luthier. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Emil, Herrmann and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american luthier” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 27, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5371282. VIAF identifies the subject as 232922252. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1888, 1968, 1923 and 1929.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Emil Herrmann”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Emil Herrmann primary sources, Emil Herrmann archive and Emil research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Emil Herrmann”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Emil Herrmann” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.