Schimmeyer Harps

[HBrock25]

Can anyone give me any info on Schimmeyer harps?

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

That puts me in mind of the exceedingly rare Himmelhelfer Harp, that had miniature fingers instead of discs. The pedals were actually shaped like narrow feet, so they were especially easy to pedal. They had a ram’s head on the columns of their deluxe model, and the next-lower-priced model had a row of angels strumming, for some reason, zithers, not harps. The harps were unusually tall for their time, over six feet, yet not very big in any other respect, so they had an unfortunate tendency to tip over when left unattended. I believe Carl Swanson may have restored one of these, or so I heard. They were made in Cincinatti, by Ludwig von Heffelfinger and his partner, Karl Himmelfarb-von Liederkranz. It is believed that the harps were nearly named Heffelfarb-Liederkranz. Probably a good thing they were not. They manufactured as many as 150 of these harps, before going bankrupt over warranty repairs. (They used soft pine in construction.) If you find one, you’ll be the first to know it.

[anita-burroughs-price]

Saul,
You’re a riot!! Thanks for a

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

If you play a wrong note, is it a himmelfahrt?

[michael-rockowitz]

Elizabeth,

If you do a google seach on Schimmeyer harps, you find a few entries, like this one:

Schimmeyer harp link

Saul’s post was pretty funny – but you asked an earnest question which deserves a
response in kind. With any luck, someone on this forum can give you a lot more info.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I don’t think they survived moving to Michigan, as I never heard of them before. And once Henry Ford starting making his Model G Harp-mobiles, it definitely put them under.

[anita-burroughs-price]

Hi Elizabeth,

I

[Elisabeth C]

thank you everyone for your help, especially for the google link. I had tried using google before to search for info but didn’t come up with that link.

[Author]

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