Category: Alphorn maker

Anton “Toni” von Gunten began his musical career in early childhood. From the violin he moved on to the clarinet and brass band. He graduated in wind band conducting, later working as a clarinet and saxophone teacher. Besides, he always dealt with wood; he built original“urchrummi” furniture during several years. He owes his entry into the alphorn to the reputation of alphorn maker Tobias Bärtschi, whom he had known since recruit school in the army band – the brass band

After suffering a heart attack, Roland Zahner decided to rearrange his priorities in 2009. He downsized from his office job and resumed the manual labor he had neglected since becoming an apprentice model carpenter. He found a first new project with the“Wiler Hofpferden” – noble wooden rocking horses in the range and logo of Franz Carl Weber. Then the accidental contact with Gérald Pot in January 2010 was groundbreaking. Pot told him about his work as an alphorn maker and

Hans Aebi knows how wood processing works. As a master wood turner, he has five decades of experience in this. After apprenticeship and years of wandering, he successfully built up his own woodturning business from 1990. In doing so, he had to constantly adapt to the changing demand for wood products and evolve in modern manufacturing processes. This knowledge of working with CNC machines helped him when he started making alphorns in 2014. At the same time he got into

From Unspunnen Castle near Interlaken, the venue of the first alphorn meeting in 1805, a road leads seven kilometers up to Habkern. There Heinz Tschiemer builds the Bernatone alphorns. The closeness to tradition is not limited to geography: for Heinz, the alphorn is part of the pastoral culture in which he grew up and is firmly rooted. In addition to alpine horns, his family produces mountain cheese on their own farm; his father has a sawmill that also supplies the