A violin once owned by Albert Einstein, one of the world’s most celebrated scientists, is expected to sell for up to £300,000 when it goes under the hammer next month in Gloucestershire.
The 1894 full-size Zunterer violin will headline a sale at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in South Cerney on 8 October, alongside other rare Einstein-related items. The collection includes a bicycle saddle, the saddle’s original order form, and a philosophy book gifted by Einstein to a friend in 1932.
Senior auctioneer and historical memorabilia specialist Chris Albury described the sale as a rare opportunity to handle “extraordinary historical artefacts” once owned by the iconic physicist.
“When the violin arrived for analysis, its sound post and bridge were detached, and it had not been played for a very long time,” Albury explained. “This was easily rectified, and a short performance can be heard on our website.”
The violin is of particular significance, as it is believed to be the first instrument Einstein bought for himself. Like all of his violins, he affectionately named it “Lina,” a detail etched onto the back panel that auctioneers called “hair-raising” to discover.
Einstein, who often turned to music for solace and inspiration, is thought to have played this violin from his late teens into early adulthood. This period coincided with some of his most groundbreaking work, including the publication of his papers on relativity in 1905 and 1915.
All the items in the auction were originally given to Einstein’s close friend and fellow physicist Max von Laue in late 1932. The timing was significant, as Einstein soon fled Germany to escape the rising tide of antisemitism and Nazism, eventually settling in the United States.
Two decades later, von Laue passed the items to Margarete Hommrich, an acquaintance and devoted Einstein admirer. Today, her great-great granddaughter is bringing them to auction for the first time, offering collectors and institutions alike a chance to own pieces intimately linked to the scientist’s personal life.
Einstein’s violins have commanded strong interest at past auctions. In 2018, another violin gifted to him upon his arrival in the United States in 1933 fetched $516,500 (£370,000) at a New York sale.
This upcoming auction is expected to generate significant international attention, not only among collectors of rare instruments but also admirers of Einstein’s extraordinary legacy.
With both musical and historical importance, the violin and associated artefacts offer a tangible connection to a man whose genius reshaped science and continues to inspire the world.
