Richard Paulus & VIOL prototypes
Richard Paulus invented VIOL in the early days of the 20th century. In 1923, the process for producing the preparation "Viol" was protected as a patent by the German Imperial Patent Office. Its name comes from the contraction of the German words "violine" and "öl", which translate as "violin" and "oil". At that time it was the first and only special preparation of its kind on the international market and since then has been praised by great international soloists as well as by members of important German and foreign orchestras and used for the care of honourable instruments. You will find many pictures below to give you an idea of the origines of Viol.
A Master Luthier and a violonist in Baden Baden, Germany
Felix Paulus (1933 - 1989) was born in Munich. He followed the path of his father in Freiburg to start a career as a violin maker. He later settled his own workshop in Baden Baden. Felix had two children with his violinist wife Sieglinde Paulus (1933 - 1998): Sabine and Christian. A keen hang-glider pilot, he died tragically in a landing accident. His workshop was pursued by his former apprentice Hans-Jörg Homolka, who still works there today. You can see below Christian Paulus with his father in the workshop.
Luthier equipments saved from the Felix Paulus era
After commencing his career alongside his father in Freiburg, Felix went a few years to Stuttgart where he met his future wife Sieglinde at a concert. They moved to Baden-Baden a few years later. The Paulus family has preserved many of his workshop tools to this day. Some of them are exposed here below.
The prominent decades
Felix has been repeatedly in the news in the 1970s and 1980s due to its remarquable work as Master Luthier. Meanwhile, Sieglinde has been developing Viol by approaching the most famous orchestras of the world. Therefore, Viol had the chance to also be popularised through news articles. Feel free to click on images to be able to better read this sample of articles.
Hans-Jörg Homolka
Homolka was Felix's apprentice in the 1980s. Their passion for hang-gliding brought them together. It was a natural choice to chose him to take over the workshop. Here's an article on the subject.
A true classical music and sport lover, alike his father
Surrounded by music since its childhood, Christian followed the path of his father, both in terms of music and sport. After a short career as a professional kayaker, he moved to Saint-Etienne (France) to study medicine. He later settled in Lyon with his wife and had four children. As a passionate player of cello and piano, he taught his children multiple instruments e.g. guitare, bass and drums. Early 2000s, he joined the Ecole Nationale de Musique of Villeurbanne where he played several concerts. He also systematically played for the concert of La Revue des Anciens Internes, the yearly gathering and all alumna of his university. Viol has been continued by Christian since the death of his mother, Sieglinde, in 1998. Christian tragically died on the 23rd of August 2021 in a kayak accident near Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France. His son Carl has then taken over the centenary violin oil business with the wish to increase worldwide adoption, as the fantastic properties of Viol deserve it.
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