Thomas Hoyer workshop violin

Thomas Hoyer (born 1970) pursues a long-standing family tradition of violin-making. The Hoyer family name is very prevalent within the European luthier community, well-known for over three hundred years as makers of quality German musical instruments. Thomas grew up in Bubenreuth/Bavaria where several luthiers from Schoenbach/Bohemia re-opened their workshops after 1945 (including Hofner, Klier, Sandner, Framus, and Paesold). He learned the craft of bow-making from his father Georg Hoyer (1939-2001). Later he also studied violin-making as did his grandfather Anton Wilfer (1898-1973, educated by Frantisek Kriz in Prague). Thomas Hoyer worked with Seifert and Hofner (both in Bubenreuth), and, in 1998, he received his master's degree from the School of Violin Making in Mittenwald/Bavaria.