16 1/8" Karl August Berger viola, New York 1923

Swiss luthier Karl August Berger was born in 1893 in Basel, Switzerland. He traveled widely to pursue his career, moving to Naples to study at the Postiglione workshop, and then to Paris to work for the firm Silvestre et Maucotel. After a brief stay time in Mittenwald, Berger moved to the United States to work in the renowned shop of Emil Herrmann in New York City before establishing his own successful workshop there in 1924. His instruments were played by prominent members of symphony orchestras and won numerous awards, including medals at the sesquicentennial World's Fair in Philadelphia in 1926 and at the 1927 International Exposition of Music in Geneva.