Background and training
Konrad Kohlert was born in 1957 in Hagenau, Germany. As the son of an instrument maker, he soon discovered his passion for this profession. At the tender age of 12, he carved his first violin scroll under his father's direction. At 15 he started his training with violin master craftsman Ernst-Heinrich Roth in Bubenreuth and at the violin makers' school in Mittenwald. After completing his vocational training in 1976 and working for several years in his father's workshop, in 1987, Konrad Kohlert took his master craftsman examination in Nuremberg. Since then he has been self-employed in his own workshop in Poxdorf (nr. Forchheim, Southern Germany). He is a member of the guild of bowed and plucked instrument makers, Erlangen, and the association of German violinmakers.
Konrad's speciality is building copies of old maestro violins. His main model is the reproduction of a Joseph Guarnerius del Gésu violin built in 1741. He also builds Stradivarius and Gagliano violin reproductions, Amati baroque violin reproductions, violas and cellos.
