Machold Rare Violins, domiciled in Bremen, was the global market leader in the historic string instruments trade.
Background
The company was established in 1861 in Markneukirchen as a violin manufacturer. The owner was Dietmar Harry Joachim Machold, born in 1949 and resident at Schloss Eichbüchl bei Katzelsdorf. Of the surviving 600 violins, 60 cellos and 12 violas crafted by Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy, around half have passed through Machold's. The company also sold Guarneri del Gesù violins.[1]
Dietmar Machold was given the title of honorary professor for a collection of historic violins he procured for the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.[1]
Criminal investigation
Two bankers from Sparkasse Bremen bank invited violin maker Roger Hargrave to inspect their violins, which they believed to be Stradivarius violins. Machold had represented them as such when he offered them as collateral for a multi-million dollar loan.[2] Had the violins been genuine, their estimated combined sale price would be around €5.2 million (US$6.8 million). Upon viewing the instruments Hargrave said they were not made by Stradivari, and the estimated value for each piece would only be around €2,000-€3,000. The violins were also examined by forestry expert Michael Beuting; in his analysis of the wood used to craft the violins, Beuting concluded that trees had not been felled during Stradivari's lifetime. Beuting also stated that the wood had not come from the Southern Alps, where the spruce trees used by Stradivari can be found.[1]
The 1765 Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi viola, which had been given to Machold in commission, appeared on a Flessabank list having been used as collateral, but the bank had not received physical possession of the viola. Instead the viola, along with another by Camillus Camilli, had ended up at the Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (Austrian Savings Banks). He then gave the lenders at Flessabank different instruments that didn't belong to him, which were seized during the investigation.
Organization
Machold had branch establishments in Vienna, Zurich (Geigenbau Machold GmbH and Cadenza AG), Alpnach (Bomalu AG), Bremen, Berlin, New York City, Aspen, Chicago, Seoul and Tokyo, buying and selling, among others, Stradivari and del Gesù violins.[1]
Insolvency proceedings
Personal bankruptcy
Dietmar Machold purchased Eichbüchl Castle in 1997; he paid 1 million deutchemarks for the 700 year old castle, which is located outside Vienna. The castle was sold for €3.5 million, and the collection of period furniture, rugs and library for €120,000. The house he inherited from his parents in Bremen was sold for €350,000.[1]
On 22 October 2010 Dietmar Machold initiated a restructuring proceeding with self-administration with regard to his private assets.
See also
- John & Arthur Beare
- Bein & Fushi
- List of Stradivarius instruments
References
- Carsten Holm. How the World's Top Stradivarius Dealer Misplayed May 10, 2012, retrieved 1 August 2019^
- Dietmar Machold, jet-setting violin dealer, accused in a case of fakes and fraud Washington Post, 2023-05-19, retrieved 2024-02-21^
- Strings Magazine Shrader, Erin, July 2011, "Machold Behind Bars."