Prices of the best violins are on a constant rise, irrespective of the stock market situation. The uniqueness of musical instruments such as old violins makes them gain on value, no matter if the capital market is fine or not.
The purchase of a valuable string instrument has been a good way to invest money for a long time. Investing in violins makes now more and more sense and is more stable than investments in gold and capital deposits.
Formerly a city of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and ex-capital of Poland until 1795, Krakow (latin: Cracovia) is one of the oldest Polish cities and the most beautiful cities of Europe. It was not by accident that Krakow was picked as a venue hosting auctions of the Violini-Cracovia auction house. Sometimes referred to as the Polish Cremona, Krakow used to be the major violin-making centre in Poland.
The oldest Polish violin-maker known to us, Mateusz Dobrucki, was born in 1520 in Krakow, where he lived and worked. Krakow was then also a home to the most eminent Polish violin-maker, Marcin Groblicz I, born in about 1530, a founder of a dynasty of outstanding Polish violin-makers working until the 18th century. Another well-known Polish violin-maker, Baltazar Dankwart of Vilnius, a contemporary of Dobrucki and Groblicz, was also a founder of a dynasty of eminent violin-makers.
The time of Renaissance also saw other violin-makers, mostly living in Krakow: Tomasz Glazowski, Bernard Przeworski and Jakubowski, the first name of the latter being unknown. Between 1750 and 1810, Krakow was also home to a studio of Wojciech Pilichowski. It is also worth mentioning that representatives of the Häussler family settled in Krakow. Christian Häussler ran his studio since 1832 and trained a few apprentices. His studio was taken over by his nephew and apprentice, Gustaw Häussler (1858-1940), who ran it since 1871 until he died. Thanks to the Häusslers, Krakow violin-making regained its remarkable position, kept up to this day by Gustaw’s apprentices – Jozef Zajac and Piotr Kubas.