Double bass from the Musical Instrument Museum adorns a 50-euro gold coin
Press release from 04/26/2018
Five-part series to honour German musical instrument making planned until 2022 / Presentation of the first coin on 8 May at 6 pm with Bettina Hagedorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Finance, and SPK Vice President Günther Schauerte at the Musical Instrument Museum
A double bass from the collection of the Musical Instrument Museum of the State Institute for Music Research adorns a 50-euro gold coin that the Federal Ministry of Finance will issue in the second half of 2018. The coin is made of fine gold (999.9 parts per thousand) and will be minted in brilliant uncirculated quality. It will weigh 7.78 g and have a diameter of 22 mm. The 17th century instrument depicted on the coin comes from Mittenwald in Upper Bavaria, where Mathias Kloz founded violin making in 1685. Andreas Jais, Kloz's first pupil, was famous far beyond the borders of Bavaria for his large double basses. Since then, double basses from Mittenwald have been regarded as a trademark of German violin makers.
An object from the collection of the Musical Instrument Museum thus marks the start of a five-part series with which the Federal Ministry of Finance intends to honour German musical instrument making, which has held an outstanding position in Europe since the Middle Ages, until 2022. "The minting of the 50-euro gold coin is a special honour for the valuable collection of the Musical Instrument Museum. Every day in the permanent exhibition, visitors can experience why German musical instruments have been ambassadors of German musical culture at home and abroad for centuries," says SPK President Hermann Parzinger.
The 50-euro gold coin will be presented for the first time at a ceremony on Tuesday, 8 May, at 6 p.m. in the Musical Instrument Museum (Ben-Gurion-Straße entrance) in the presence of the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Finance, Bettina Hagedorn, the Vice President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Günther Schauerte, and the Director of the Musical Instrument Museum, Conny Restle. Media representatives are cordially invited to attend. Please reply by 3 May to presse(at)sim.spk-berlin(dot)de.