Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett
By Hauke Marxsen
Jan, I sent you an individual message, but I think I should tell the other MMD members a little bit about Siegfried Wendel and Ruedesheim.
Siegfried Wendel is the owner of the museum "Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett" in Ruedesheim. Some of his children are also tied in. The museum is open from the first of March till the 15th of November. There are guided tours (one hour) with performances of a lot of instruments. In their workshop (a few miles down the river Rhine in the buildings of a former mineral water company) the Wendels produce bird cages, restore and rebuild MM-instruments and punch paper rolls for pianos.
Besides that they run a chain of ten shops for music boxes: two shops in the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Maastricht) under the name "Speeldozen- wereld" and eight shops in Germany under the name "Spieluhrenwelt".
Twice a year the Wendels organize a party in the museum and a bazaar for MM instruments and all what's around that topic. The bazaar is in the City Hall of Ruedesheim (music boxes, movements, spare parts, organs, piano rolls, books and so on). I don't know precisely, but I think there are always between 80 to 100 market-stalls. Most sellers (dealers, collectors, builders and restorers) are from Germany, but also many from Holland, Switzerland and other neighbouring countries.
The dates for this year are:
The last weekend before Easter (22. and 23. of March), and
the first weekend in November 1997.
The big party is Saturday evening in the museum. All people who are interested in MM are invited. I have met there people from England, France, Switzerland, Denmark and USA. For a small entrance-fee you get wine, beer and enough to eat. Siegfried floats through the overcrowded rooms telling exciting stories. On the next day, Sunday, the bazaar starts at 10 AM.
Greetings Hauke
[ Siegfried looks like he just emerged from a Black Forest workshop,
[ with his big, full beard and large spectacles, and often wearing
[ farmer's overalls or the like. It's funny to imagine him floating
[ like a balloon! (Your expression is quite correct, Hauke, since he
[ is the host of the party.) -- Robbie |
(Message sent Sat 15 Feb 1997, 09:30:00 GMT, from time zone GMT+0100.) |
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