Permanent Exhibition
Presented across approximately 600 square metres, the new permanent exhibition is the heart of the museum. It offers a comprehensive yet entertaining overview of 200 years of harmonica history, including the instruments that preceded the harmonica family.
The spacious, professionally designed exhibition is arranged around key themes and a multimedia approach. Visitors are encouraged to explore and try things for themselves.
Pull-out drawers and flip books contain further exhibits and more detailed information.
The permanent exhibition is divided into the following sections
Musical styles from around the world
This special area both opens and concludes the presentation. Selected recordings reveal the surprising number of musical styles around the world that have been shaped by harmonica instruments.
Five seats with headphones invite visitors to listen. During group tours, the musical examples can be played for everyone through the media stations.
The early history of harmonica instruments before 1850
A small number of outstanding exhibits—including one of the oldest hand harmonicas made in Vienna—document the development of the earliest musical instruments using the free reed.
The history of the harmonica industry from 1850 to the present
Divided into five periods, this main section provides the narrative thread running through the entire exhibition. Its central focus is the “Hohner story”, always considered in relation to international competitors. Important excursions and special areas complement the narrative.
The exhibition examines many aspects of social, economic and product history. Hundreds of fascinating objects, including valuable unique pieces, document these developments. Particularly unusual stories and objects are marked by red architectural elements known as “anecdote boxes”.
The industrialisation of the industry between 1850 and 1900 is symbolised by the “Erika” poster, which shows company founder Matthias Hohner selling his products around the world. Especially valuable are the ivory harmonicas made in Vienna by Wilhelm Thie, whose quality products served as a model for Hohner.
The golden age of harmonicas made in Germany, from 1900 to 1930, forms the exhibition’s largest section. It explores not only the continued rise of Matth. Hohner AG to become the dominant manufacturer, but also the once important harmonica industry in Saxony and Thuringia. Another section examines the architectural history of the factories and the expansion of Trossingen’s harmonica industry into the surrounding region, where dozens of branch factories were founded around 1900 and 1910. Two highlights are an original 1925/26 poster showing the factory complex and a coloured wooden model of Hohner AG’s Plant I.
The greatest star of the 20th century represents the harmonica’s most successful era. Larry Adler conquered concert stages with his Hohner Chromonica and made the mouth organ respectable in high society. A listening station honours Adler, the “Paganini of the harmonica”.
The bullet-damaged “Schwabentreue” harmonica is presented as a spectacular exhibit. This Hohner model saved the life of a soldier from Swabia during the First World War.
The section on crises and recoveries from 1930 to 1960 is centred on a wall-sized photograph of Ernst Hohner, the legendary grandson of the company founder. As head of the company, he guided the business through decades of upheaval. Ernst Hohner strongly promoted the accordion and brought the celebrated instrument designer Venanzio Morino to Trossingen in 1928.
The Orchestra of the House of Hohner, active from 1947 to 1963 and touring internationally as the “Accordion Symphony Orchestra”, marked a high point in the accordion world.
The biographies of other major figures in the accordion and harmonica scenes are presented alongside representative objects. The life of Ernst Hohner is also examined critically.
Relevant exhibits document the harmonica industry during the turbulent 1930s and 1940s and in the final decade of its great prosperity. The Hohner centenary celebrations of 1957 represented both a climax and a turning point.
The final two sections, “Superlatives and existential crisis” from 1960 to 1990 and “Globalisation and rapid market change” from 1990 to 2015, document the end of the harmonica boom and the near-collapse of the Hohner empire. Special exhibits on the melodica and musical electronics are accompanied by a listening station featuring the original sound of the first musical instrument played in space—a miniature harmonica. A deliberately concluding display presents classics and later developments of the Marine Band, the most popular harmonica model of all time.
Current websites and digital picture frames presenting the music scene of the 21st century complete the display.
How harmonica instruments are made
Machines and tools illustrate the manufacture of harmonicas. Guided tours and demonstrations explain how the instruments are assembled and tuned.
An interactive family tree introduces instrument types, facts and audio examples illustrating the wide range of sounds produced by harmonica instruments.
Marketing as a reflection of its time
The design and packaging of harmonicas reflect the spirit of their time. Twelve large rotating showcases demonstrate the extraordinary variety of marketing themes, ranging from technology and sport to regional and political imagery.
Special section: 20th-century accordions and hand harmonicas
The large showcase contains almost 100 of the collection’s most beautiful and important accordions and hand harmonicas, including the world’s largest button accordion, made in 1953.
Multifunctional cinema
The cinema is both a special exhibition area and a place to rest. Ten selectable film programmes present historical footage from the museum collection, ranging from the 1930s to the 1960s and including Hohner’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2007.
