Hörth E-Flat Trumpet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This trumpet was made by Franz Hörth in Saarbrücken, Germany in 1913. It is an E-flat trumpet made of brass with nickel silver trim and has three mechanical rotary valves. This trumpet is engraved:

According to the accession paperwork, this trumpet was one of 12 instruments captured from the Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 8 (Eighth Jaeger German Mounted Band) during WWI.

Franz Hörth (also spelled Hoerth) (1862-1932) founded his musical instrument firm in what was known as St. Johann in 1898. This small fishing village merged with two other villages to form Saarbrücken around 1909. Hörth’s son-in-law Richard Wolff became manager of the company around 1921, then known as “Franz Hoerth, metal and wood instrument maker, musical instruments and talking machines."

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1913
• maker: Hörth, Franz
• Object Name: trumpet
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Physical Description: nickel silver (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 17 1/2 in x 5 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in; 44.45 cm x 13.97 cm x 21.59 cm
• Measurements: air column: 84 in; 213.36 cm
• Measurements: bell: 5 1/2 in; 13.97 cm
• place made: Germany: Saarland, Saarbrücken
• ID Number: MI.039583
• catalog number: 39583
• accession number: 136683
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.