For years I have watched the confusion of English-only speakers/readers as they struggle to make sense of the German acronym: Migma. We see Migma stencilled on the bells of various brands of vintage German saxophones from Franz Köhler to Wolfram, and many names in-between.
I have explained what Migma is on numerous English-speaking sax forums, but today I thought it was time to write an actual article that I could simply point to. This will make sure I won’t forget import info in future descriptions, and even allow me to be a bit more verbose.
In short, Migma stands for: die Musikinstrumenten-Handwerker-Genossenschaft Markneukirchen, which in English means: the Musical Instrument Manufacturer’s Cooperative Markneukirchen. Quite a mouthful, right? Gotta’ love those 10+ letter long German words. The average sentence in German is full of them. 😉
Anyways, getting back to Migma, if you look closely at the logo above, you will notice it is the same as the logo engraved on the vintage saxophones of Köhler, Wolfram, et. al. The logo has not changed in decades—if ever.
In brief: What it is, and what it is not
Migma is not now, nor was it ever, a musical instrument manufacturer. Nor do they make instrument accessories. Migma makes nothing.
Migma is an association of manufacturers and specialist retailers from the Markneukirchen region of Germany working cooperatively to bring their products to market.
What is Migma anyway?
As noted above, Migma is an acronym for the Musikinstrumenten-Handwerker-Genossenschaft Markneukirchen. They do have a website, but it is only in German. Therefore I will translate the most salient points about the cooperative for English-only readers.
Migma is an cooperative association of master craftsmen who cultivate and continue the best traditions of German musical instrument making. Since 1943, they have partnered with specialist retailers and master craftsmen. As such, they are the oldest existing sales company in Markneukirchen.1
The Migma history
- The Vogtland musical instrument trade had founded a working group on May 24, 1938, which was transformed into the cooperative a mere 5 years later.
- On June 9, 1943, 16 master craftsmen met at the Bismarck inn in Markneukirchen.
- There they founded the purchasing and sales cooperative called Migma.
- Their goal was to counteract the dependence on publishers and create a strong, self-supporting association.
- On July 14, 1943, the cooperative was registered in Markneukirchen district court with 70 founding members from the Vogtland region. 2
Migma today
These days you won’t find any saxophone manufacturers as part of Migma. However, as of 2024, Migma offers the following products and services:
- String instruments—violins, cellos, bass—sales
- Bow sales
- Sales of plucked instruments such as: guitars, mandolins, zithers
- Wind instrument sales (harmonicas and MPs)
- Orff instruments such as triangles, xylophones, etc. and mallets
- Instrument components
- Repair service
- Comprehensive advice
- Shop to try before you buy 3
A brick and mortar shop
The Migma shop is located at: Schützenstraße 27, Markneukirchen. They are open M-Th 8am to 4:30pm and F 8 am to 2:30 pm.
Players can try and buy instruments at the Migma brick and mortar shop. Check out their website for a listing of brand names.
And this relates to saxophones how?
At present there are no saxophone manufacturers in the Migma cooperative. However, if you are a fan of mid-century German saxophones like I am, or you scrounge the Net looking at vintage horns like many of us do, it is very likely that you will come across a saxophone with Migma engraved on the bell.
For example in August 2024, there was a train wreck of a Martin Reiner Meister tenor on eBay that had Migma prominently engraved on the bell.
Partial listing of saxophone manufacturers that were members of Migma cooperative
Membership in Migma was not mandatory, and sometimes manufacturers joined Migma for a few years and then dropped out. Sometimes they sold some of their products through Migma, but not others. It can get very confusing.
The following is a listing of saxophone makers from the Markneukirchen area who are known to have been members of Migma at some point. I will update this list with more names as I come across them.
Franz Köhler
Martin Reiner
Werner Roth
Oswald Wolfram
Siegfried Wolfram
Clemens Wurlitzer
1 Migma website: Über Uns
2 Migma website: Die Geschichte der MIGMA
3 Migma website: Service