Bärbel Bellinghausen

Born in Bonn, Bärbel Bellinghausen trained as a violin maker in Mittenwald. She is now enthusiastically devoted to making new violins, violas, and cellos. In 2002 she moved to Vienna, where she opened her workshop. Bärbel is a member of Klanggestalten, a group of professional violin makers, and of Con-Takt Junior Berlin, an initiative that supports highly gifted young string players. For the past eight years she has been directing an annual gathering of professional violin makers in Fertans, in the French Jura Mountains. That workshop has given rise to the FC Fertans group, which has recently moved into the limelight with its project “One Form – Twenty Violins” in collaboration with the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Bärbel Bellinghausen loves working closely together with musicians, as well as embarking on collaborative work projects with her violin maker colleagues; most of all, she loves her family and her huge cat.