This musical instrument was dropped off at my church for unknown reasons and then stashed in a closet for obvious reasons.
It is clearly a stringed instrument, reminding me in some ways of an auto-harp or a zither, but is neither. You can see the frets beneath some of the strings, and that some of the frets are shorter than the others. They are not broken, just shorter.
Through the hole an inscription is visible. It says Max Amberger. There’s also an artisan’s name that is illegible, plus the year 1888. There is a city name, Munich, but with the German spelling of Munichen(?). The case is cracked, there is no tool for tuning, although I suspect it’s a standard tuning tool.
Does anybody know what it is? Does anybody want it?
Nobody who has seen it and discussed it has any idea, but I figured someone in the DK community would know. Some Kossack always knows!
It should be either welcomed into somebody’s home or thrown in the trash. It does not belong in an active closet taking up valuable space. Thanks for any information or suggestions.
i posted this just before leaving for the first leg of a trip. (Going to Chicago Botanical Gardens for their Lightscape show.) Thanks for all the fascinating information! I will check in tomorrow and try to reply,