Oberpfälzer Volksmusikfreunde

Oberpfälzer Volksmusikfreunde e.V. is a registered non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) based in the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) region of Bavaria, Germany. Its stated mission is to keep folk music (Volksmusik), folk song (Volkslied) and folk dance (Volkstanz) alive, to pass them on to new generations, and to preserve them. According to its own website, the association has been active throughout the Oberpfalz for more than 50 years and organises roughly 300 events annually; the German Wikipedia entry states that it organises more than 500 public events each year. It also cultivates Upper Palatinate customs and dialect. The association operates as a cultural publisher and event organiser rather than a commercial manufacturer. It issues its own sheet-music folders, fingering-chart booklets (Griffschrifthefte), songbooks and CDs through its own publishing imprint (Eigenverlag). Its website functions as a hub for the association, offering a continuously updated events calendar, an online shop, and a platform for musicians. Members receive the association's magazine "Der Volksmusikfreund", published twice a year and sent to members free of charge. Oberpfälzer Volksmusikfreunde is organised with a board (Vorstandschaft) and staff/representatives in the region's districts (Landkreise), and it holds members' assemblies. It maintains a presence on Facebook and Wikipedia. Notable members have included Karl Männer, a local heritage curator (Heimatpfleger) and holder of the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande; Evi Strehl, a heritage curator from the Amberg-Sulzbach district and also a holder of the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande; and Lothar Bauer, who served as chairman of the association from 1978 to 1996. In the years 1980 to 1982, thanks to Lothar Karrer, the association was able to print the booklets "Altbayerisches Liedgut für die Adventszeit, Heft 1 und 2" (Old Bavarian song material for the Advent season, volumes 1 and 2). The association's activities are rooted in Bavarian and Upper Palatinate folk culture. It collaborates with or is featured in media such as "Volksmusik im BR" (folk music on Bavarian Broadcasting). Its offerings span live events, printed music, recordings, and member communications, making it a central institutional node for traditional music in the Oberpfalz.

The Oberpfälzer Volksmusikfreunde e.V. is a registered association based in the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) region of Bavaria, Germany. Its purpose is the cultivation and preservation of folk music, folk song and folk dance, as well as Upper Palatinate customs and dialect. According to its own website, the association has been active throughout the Oberpfalz for more than 50 years, which places its founding in the early 1970s or earlier, though no exact founding year is given in the available evidence. From 1978 to 1996, Lothar Bauer served as chairman of the association. In the years 1980 to 1982, thanks to Lothar Karrer, the association was able to print the booklets "Altbayerisches Liedgut für die Adventszeit, Heft 1 und 2" (Old Bavarian song material for the Advent season, volumes 1 and 2). In the foreword to these booklets, Karrer wrote that, in contrast to the very diverse song material for the Christmas season, the actual Advent songs themselves are rather rare, and that he was therefore happy to comply with the frequent request of many friends to compile his collected and lesser-known Advent songs. Over the decades the association has grown into a regional institution. It organises a large annual programme of public events — its website states roughly 300 per year, while the German Wikipedia entry states more than 500 — and it publishes sheet music, songbooks and sound recordings through its own publishing operation. It also produces a members' magazine, "Der Volksmusikfreund", which appears twice a year and is sent to members free of charge. The association maintains a board (Vorstandschaft) and staff or representatives in the region's districts (Landkreise), and it holds members' assemblies. It is present on Facebook and Wikipedia, and its website includes a link to "Volksmusik im BR", the folk-music programming of Bavarian Broadcasting. Notable members have included Karl Männer, a heritage curator (Heimatpfleger) from the Oberpfalz and holder of the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande; Evi Strehl, a heritage curator from the Amberg-Sulzbach district and also a holder of the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande; and Lothar Bauer, chairman from 1978 to 1996. The association continues to be active, offering an events calendar, an online shop, and a platform for musicians.

• 1996

  Lothar Bauer's chairmanship ends.

• 1982

  Publication of "Altbayerisches Liedgut für die Adventszeit, Heft 2".

• 1980

  Publication of "Altbayerisches Liedgut für die Adventszeit, Heft 1" thanks to Lothar Karrer.

• 1978

  Lothar Bauer begins his tenure as chairman of the association (until 1996).

Non-profit cultural association and publisher dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Upper Palatinate folk music, song, dance, customs and dialect.

• Notenmappen (sheet-music folders)

  Self-published sheet-music folders.

• Griffschrifthefte (fingering-chart booklets)

  Self-published fingering-chart booklets.

• Liederhefte (songbooks)

  Self-published songbooks.

• CDs

  CDs of the Volksmusikfreunde and its music groups.

• Der Volksmusikfreund (members' magazine)

  Published twice a year and sent to members free of charge.

• Altbayerisches Liedgut für die Adventszeit, Heft 1 und 2

  Advent song booklets published 1980–1982 thanks to Lothar Karrer.

1. 1Willkommen bei Oberpfälzer Volksmusikfreunde e.V.volksmusikfreunde.de
2. 2Oberpfälzer Volksmusikfreunde – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
3. 3Oberpfälzer Volksmusikfreunde – Wikidatawikidata.org