The ancestors of today’s company owner DIETER J. HOPF were violin makers and lived in the Klingenthal / Markneukirchen area.

In 1669 the name HOPF first appeared in instrument making. The first verifiable violin maker in the HOPF family was CASPAR HOPF (1655-1716). His direct descendant CASPAR HOPF II (1677-1711) was long regarded as the greatest talent in his profession and founded the long family masterclass tradition with the introduction of the branding “HOPF”.
Since then, the job has always been passed on from father to son – an inheritance that was unfortunately interrupted by the untimely death of AUGUST HERMANN HOPF (1859-1884). ERNST MAX HOPF (1882-1956) learned the trade of string maker and founded the E. MAX HOPF company as a master string maker in 1906. His son WILLY HOPF (1906-1990) also became a string maker and added an instrument workshop to the string maker that was taken over in 1932. In 1948, for political reasons, the company was relocated to Taunusstein-Wehen. The production of strings, woodwind and string instruments began here under the name WILLY HOPF & CO. Many professionally qualified employees from the “old home” made a significant contribution to the rebuilding. The guitar maker Dieter Hopf is still based at this location today.

From this point on, DIETER J. HOPF were responsible for guitar making and WOLFGANG HOPF for sales. After his master’s examination in 1968, DIETER HOPF began to concentrate more on the development and production of high-quality soloist instruments. In 1981 the Bürder separated and DIETER J. HOPF founded the DIETER HOPF GITARREN-ATELIER company, in which he could now deal with his master instruments even better and more successfully. Some patents and protection claims document the drive for innovative further development. The freely swinging ceiling system (fvts), the rosette bridge or the legally protected membrane ceiling should be emphasized here.

In 1982 Dieter J. Hopf and his wife Gertrud Hopf took over the well-known traditional company “Carl Hellweg Deutschland” and expanded the range. From now on, not only gut, nylon and metal strings, but also guitars and plucked instruments in all price ranges and accessories were offered.

The JOHN HOPE string range was also taken over, launched on the market and is now known worldwide as a high-quality, inexpensive and innovative string label.

From concert strings in the standard and classic range, through western and electric guitar strings to violin strings, this range covers every wish.

With all individual HOPF models and custom-made products, consistently high tonal quality, the finest workmanship and good playability are guaranteed.