Munich violist’s entire instrument collection stolen from his apartment

Norbert Merkl’s collection, comprising one viola, two violins and 61 bows, were stolen on the morning of 18 August 2025 while he and his family were overseas on holiday.

Norbert Merkl has had his entire instrument and bow collection stolen from apartment in Gröbenzell, near Munich in Germany.

Merkl, the solo violist of the Munich Radio Orchestra for 41 years, is a passionate enthusiast and collector of violins, violas and bows. His collection comprises a Francesco Mantegazza viola, an 1827 J.B. Vuillaume violin, an Enrico Marchetti violin, and 61 bows.

Of his bow collection, his most valuable items include an 1890 Sartory violin bow, a Pierre Simon violin bow and a Nicolas Maire viola bow. The three instruments and these three bows have an estimated worth of around €800,000.

He outlined the situation to The Strad: ’My entire collection was kept in a 300kg safe that stood in my bedroom. While I was on holiday in Thailand with my whole family, my apartment was broken into on August 18 at around 2:15 a.m., and the safe with its contents was stolen.

’According to the criminal police, the safe was most likely transported away by three men using a hand truck via an external staircase and loaded into a small truck. The perpetrators left the hand truck behind in the garden.’

Merkl says that all of the certificates and valuation reports were also kept in the safe.

More information and photos can be found via the websites of musicalchairs and the Association of German Violin Makers.

Merkl is offering a reward of €50,000 for information leading to the collection’s recovery. The collection was stolen from his address, Weiherweg 4, 82194 Gröbenzell, Germany.

Merkl can be contacted at n.merkl@web.de or +49 177 1592876.

Photos courtesy Norbert Merkl.