The Museum holds over 3,500 musical instruments from the 16th century onward and is one of the largest and most representative musical instrument collections in Germany. Objects include a portable harpsichord once owned by Prussia’s Queen Sophie Charlotte, flutes from the collection of Frederick the Great, and Benjamin Franklin’s glass harmonica.HistoryThe Museum was founded in 1888 at the Royal A
cademy of Music in Berlin from a collection assembled by Philipp Spitta and Joseph Joachim. Thirty-four instruments from the Museum of Decorative Arts, which had once been heard at the state court of the Kingdom of Prussia, formed the basis of the collection. By 1890 the Museum had purchased hundreds more from Leipzig publisher and music dealer Paul de Wit. The largest acquisitions were made by Oskar Fleischer, first Director from 1892-1919, with financial support from Wilhelm II. In 1902 over 1,400 instruments from the private collection Ghent Attorney César Snoeck were acquired, including four 17th century Ruckers harpsichords as well as one of the few original transverse flutes by Jean Hotteterre. Curt Sachs, Director from 1919-1933, brought a scientific approach to the collections. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments) and co-authored the Sachs-Hornbostel system of instrument classification. The Museum rose to international importance and his catalogs form the basis of academic research papers to this day.
