Company history[] A "violin bass" similar to the one used by A German , Karl Höfner (1864-1955), founded the Höfner company in the city of in in 1887. He soon became the largest manufacturer in the country. His sons, Josef and Walter, joined the company around 1920, and began spreading the brand's reputation worldwide. The company became involved in production for the German army in producing wooden crates and soles for boots. After the war, Germans were expelled from the , forcing Höfner to move to . The company initially moved to an ex-work camp at in 1948, but soon became involved in the development of a new township and factories in . The new Höfner factory opened in 1950, and expanded three times between 1953 and 1960. Karl Höfner, the founder, lived to see the company's revival, and died in Bubenreuth in 1955. In 1964, the company built a further factory at , about 5 km from Bubenreuth, to machine wood parts for assembly at Bubenreuth. They expanded the Hagenau factory twice in the 1970s. The daughter of Walter Höfner, Gerhilde, began working for the company in the mid 1950s taking an active part in all aspects of management. Her husband, Christian Benker, joined the company in 1963. They together became the driving force for the company as Josef and Walter entered retirement in the 1970s. Changes of ownership[] In 1994, Höfner became part of the , and was able to expand and upgrade its facilities with the influx of cash. In 1997, the company moved from Bubenreuth to . After a near-bankruptcy in 2003 Boosey & Hawkes sold its musical instrument division (including the Höfner and companies) to , a company formed by rescue buyout specialists Rutland Fund Management, for £33.2 million. Höfner remained a part of this conglomerate until December 2004, when the Music Group sold the company to Klaus Schöller who had been the general manager of Höfner for many years, with his wife Ulrike Schrimpff, the finance director at Höfner along with Rob Olsen and Graham Stockley who were USA and UK partners. Klaus Schöller and Ulrike Schrimpff remain as the owners of the business today. Distribution[] Europe[] The Höfner company has nearly always been responsible for its own distribution within Europe. The exceptions to this have been: The where the distributor in the 1950s and 1960s was the Van Wouw company (which closed in the 1970s) where the distributor is Keller The , in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s Höfner instruments were distributed by Selmer of London (not to be confused with The Selmer Company). Today electric guitars are distributed by Barnes and Mullins while classical guitars and stringed instruments are distributed by Clive Guthrie. United States[] EMMC based in NJ was the distributor for bass guitars for many years until 1995 until Boosey & Hawkes bought the company in 1994. Boosey & Hawkes took over distribution from 1995-2003. During these years the improvements of quality and brand exposure were significant. The overall bass and guitar lines were redesigned and new successful 6-string jazz guitar models were created and introduced in late 1999. The Music Group, a Venture Capital Company took over Boosey & Hawkes from 2003 until 2004 when the Höfner company was purchased via a management buyout. In 2005, Höfner's United States distribution was picked up by Classic Musical Instruments (CMI) in Kenosha, WI. CMI ceased trading in 2012 and distribution passed to Musical Distributors Group (MDG) in New Jersey. In late 2018 MDG merged with Adam Hall North America and is the current USA distributor. The Rob Olsen- 1998-Current. Rob Olsen worked at Boosey & Hawkes as Höfner Product Manager in late 1998 and remains responsible for USA distribution for Adam Hall. He designed or co-designed many key Höfner models, managed overall quality, and increased visibility of the company (especially from 1999-2012). Rob Olsen era Höfner models include: Jazzica Custom, Verythin Classic, The New President, The Vice President, Verythin Standard, The Chancellor, The Club Bass reissue, The 50th Anniversary Violin bass, Club 40 John Lennnon limited edition, Violin finish guitars and basses, Colorama reissue, H5 jazz guitars and others. Rob may be best known for creating the flagship Icon/Ignition series basses and guitars. He was responsible for negotiations and creation of the Ed Sullivan Series basses, Guitar Hero and Beatles Rockband connections. Rob Olsen opened and managed the Höfner Custom Shop (still in operation), which produces special instruments and colors for shops and artists, including Wilco, Lenny Kravitz, Cheap Trick, Bon Jovi, Tesla, Sheryl Crow, and others. The most famous custom shop model may be the Paul McCartney Jubilee bass that Paul used for the Concert For The Queen in 2012, where Paul sported a painted in a transparent colored Union Jack flag custom shop bass. Rob Olsen along with Graham Stockley in the U.K. (and later based in Germany at the Höfner workshop) were the key players in exposing and bringing the brand to desired status by creating quality features and models, artist- relations and signings of visible artists (officially with Paul McCartney), Cheap Trick, Bon Jovi, Tesla, Wilco and many others. They also achieved rapid dealer growth and the creation of the ad campaigns during the USA Höfner brand launch years.