> I wonder you can be of any help to me.  I own a Tanzbaer roll playing
> accordion which works on the principle of the pianola with a small
> paper roll.  I have, in vain, been trying to find out more details
> about this instrument but have not been successful.  I wonder whether
> you might be able to help.
>
> I also own some music boxes and was fascinated doing the tour of the
> museum and finding my Ami Rivenc.  If you cannot help me may be you
> can direct me somewhere.  Many thanks for your help
>
> Bill Meeken

Dear Bill,  Thanks for writing to me about your Tanzbaer.  These were
made by A. Zuleger in Leipzig, Germany between about 1900 and 1930,
give or take a couple of years.

The name means 'dancing bear' in German (Tanz is the German word for
dance, and Bar, with an umlaut over the a, is the German word for bear)
and represents the dancing bear displayed on their trademark (in German
called Schutzmarke).  The trademark shows a dancing bear on a leash
from a ring through its nose, hands holding a stick above his head, and
the words <SCHUTZMARKE "TANZBAR" A Z L> around the edge of the circular
design; AZL stands for A. Zuleger Leipzig.

There were many models of the Tanzbaer made over those years it was
manufactured.  Thus, the description of the accordions are varied.

Power is provided by the person playing the instrument by opening
and closing the accordion (or concertina).  The roll is advanced using
a ratchet drive operated by pressing a lever on the end of the instru-
ment.  At the end of the tune, the roll is rewound by hand turning
a crank.  The music is provided by air pushed through free reeds, the
notes chosen by the paper roll program.

You may be interested in reading about other mechanical music devices
on a daily Internet digest called Mechanical Music Digest (MMD).  They
have a home page at http://mmd.foxtail.com/.  I have taken the liberty
of copying your question and my response in the MMD as there are many
subscribers who might be interested to know about the Tanzbaer.

In addition, you may be interested in joining the Musical Box Society
International (MBSI), a group of about 3,000 individuals who collect,
restore and study mechanical musical devices.  The MBSI has a home page
at http://www.mbsi.org/ where you can find details about the
organization.

Musically yours,

Bill Wineburgh
http://members.aol.com/WWineburgh/musicbox.html

 [ See also http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/KWIC/T/tanzbaer.html