re: " Some sources—including Martin Kelly’s book Rickenbacker Guitars: Pioneers of the Electric Guitar—suggest Roger trained in Schönbach with Hirsch, rather than in Mittenwald"
Martin got it correct- Roger listed Mittenwald on his immigration paperwork for political reasons and that story was repeated over time by he and his circle for obvious reasons due to the political climate of the era. AKA he didn't want to highlight that he trained in Schönbach. During the time Roger Rossmeisl would have been apprenticed (late 1930s–1945), Schönbach was annexed into Nazi Germany (in 1938) and returned to Czechoslovakia only after the war; it became part of a communist state in 1948. Mittenwald, on the other hand, lay in Bavaria, which fell under the U.S. occupation zone. Roger got 'fast tracked' on his USA immigration due, in part, to his relationships with 'known American musical artists', and highlighting his time in Schönbach would have been problematic...
In an interview about the documentary “Who the F… Is Roger Rossmeisl,” directors Luc Quelin and Kaspar Glarner recounted that they wrote to the Bavarian State Archives to ask whether a student named “Roger Rossmeil” had ever studied in Mittenwald; the archive replied that this name was completely unknown. When they asked the instrument‑making school itself when it began teaching guitar‑making, the school responded that guitar‑making courses only started in 1973 . This suggests either that earlier enrolment records are incomplete/not publicly available, or that the school did not have a guitar‑making programme when Roger was a child.
The absence of a record for Roger is therefore a useful piece of evidence, but it is not definitive proof that he never studied at Mittenwald. Nonetheless, when this absence is combined with other evidence—such as Herbert Rittinger’s documentation that all pre‑war “Roger” guitars were built by Franz Hirsch’s Schönbach workshop and that Hirsch trained both Wenzel and Roger —the lack of a Mittenwald record weakens the long‑repeated story that Roger received his training there. It bolsters the alternative explanation that his formative training was with Hirsch in Schönbach, and that the Mittenwald narrative may have arisen later, perhaps to lend prestige during his emigration to the United States.
The Rittinger site also has photos of Roger in the Schönbach workshop with Hirsch, which are the same photos used of 'Roger at Mittenwald' in some sources. The Rittinger site walks thru the trail of evidence that they are in fact photos of the Schönbach workshop.
Also note: In the Vintage Guitar article “Rossmeisl Guitars,” author Philip Kubicki (a former Fender employee who worked with Roger) recounts that one of Roger’s masters at the Mittenwald school was Franz Hirsch. Kubicki describes Hirsch teaching the students to plane workbenches perfectly flat and check them with a flatness gauge. While Kubicki places Hirsch at the Mittenwald school, he may have conflated Hirsch’s role at Schönbach with the Mittenwald narrative; the two towns are sometimes confused in English‑language sources. And that article gets referenced a lot... (Directors Luc Quelin and Kaspar Glarner asked for Mittenwald records on Hirsch, due to so many accounts stating that he was Roger's teacher at Mittenwald. Again, no records of Hirsch.). it's here: https://www.vintageguitar.com/1939/rossmeisl-guitars/#:~:text=One%20of%20Roger’s%20masters%20was,again%2C%20until%20it%20was%20perfect
So: "Roger used Mittenwald to help with immigration to the USA, but he trained in Schönbach with Hirsch." It's prob the more likely story...
re: " Some sources—including Martin Kelly’s book Rickenbacker Guitars: Pioneers of the Electric Guitar—suggest Roger trained in Schönbach with Hirsch, rather than in Mittenwald"
Martin got it correct- Roger listed Mittenwald on his immigration paperwork for political reasons and that story was repeated over time by he and his circle for obvious reasons due to the political climate of the era. AKA he didn't want to highlight that he trained in Schönbach. During the time Roger Rossmeisl would have been apprenticed (late 1930s–1945), Schönbach was annexed into Nazi Germany (in 1938) and returned to Czechoslovakia only after the war; it became part of a communist state in 1948. Mittenwald, on the other hand, lay in Bavaria, which fell under the U.S. occupation zone. Roger got 'fast tracked' on his USA immigration due, in part, to his relationships with 'known American musical artists', and highlighting his time in Schönbach would have been problematic...
In an interview about the documentary “Who the F… Is Roger Rossmeisl,” directors Luc Quelin and Kaspar Glarner recounted that they wrote to the Bavarian State Archives to ask whether a student named “Roger Rossmeil” had ever studied in Mittenwald; the archive replied that this name was completely unknown. When they asked the instrument‑making school itself when it began teaching guitar‑making, the school responded that guitar‑making courses only started in 1973 . This suggests either that earlier enrolment records are incomplete/not publicly available, or that the school did not have a guitar‑making programme when Roger was a child.
The absence of a record for Roger is therefore a useful piece of evidence, but it is not definitive proof that he never studied at Mittenwald. Nonetheless, when this absence is combined with other evidence—such as Herbert Rittinger’s documentation that all pre‑war “Roger” guitars were built by Franz Hirsch’s Schönbach workshop and that Hirsch trained both Wenzel and Roger —the lack of a Mittenwald record weakens the long‑repeated story that Roger received his training there. It bolsters the alternative explanation that his formative training was with Hirsch in Schönbach, and that the Mittenwald narrative may have arisen later, perhaps to lend prestige during his emigration to the United States.
The Rittinger site also has photos of Roger in the Schönbach workshop with Hirsch, which are the same photos used of 'Roger at Mittenwald' in some sources. The Rittinger site walks thru the trail of evidence that they are in fact photos of the Schönbach workshop.
The interview is here: https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle.php?titlelink=who-the-f-is-roger-rossmeisl-screens-at-the-2021-new-jersey-international-film-festival-on-saturday-june-5
the Rittinger site is here (but you need to translate it): https://roger.schlaggitarren.de/kapitel-01-familiengeschichte-entstehung-der-roger-guitarren/#:~:text=seinen%20Vorstellungen%2C%20zu%20produzieren,schnell%20die%20notwendigen%20handwerklichen%20Fertigkeiten
Also note: In the Vintage Guitar article “Rossmeisl Guitars,” author Philip Kubicki (a former Fender employee who worked with Roger) recounts that one of Roger’s masters at the Mittenwald school was Franz Hirsch. Kubicki describes Hirsch teaching the students to plane workbenches perfectly flat and check them with a flatness gauge. While Kubicki places Hirsch at the Mittenwald school, he may have conflated Hirsch’s role at Schönbach with the Mittenwald narrative; the two towns are sometimes confused in English‑language sources. And that article gets referenced a lot... (Directors Luc Quelin and Kaspar Glarner asked for Mittenwald records on Hirsch, due to so many accounts stating that he was Roger's teacher at Mittenwald. Again, no records of Hirsch.). it's here: https://www.vintageguitar.com/1939/rossmeisl-guitars/#:~:text=One%20of%20Roger’s%20masters%20was,again%2C%20until%20it%20was%20perfect
So: "Roger used Mittenwald to help with immigration to the USA, but he trained in Schönbach with Hirsch." It's prob the more likely story...
Thanks, John. I apparently put too much weight into the “cover story” Roger sold. Will update this evening.
A lot of research went into this!!
Thank you, Andy 😊
Rossmeisl has his legacy in the 381. What do they call the design - "German Curve"?
Wow! What a story! Thanks so much for writing and publishing it!