Florian Schneider, co-founder of electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk, who died in 2020, is considered as one of the genre masters. Now, a massive collection of his instruments, equipment and memorabilia is going up for auction via Julien’s Auctions. The auction will take place on November 19 at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, TN. You can also bid online.
There are over 450 items for sale, including Schneider’s late-1970s Sennheiser VSM-201 vocoder, the EMS Synthi AKS suitcase synth from Kraftwerk’s Autobahn era, his 1964 Volkswagen Type 2 van, and the bicycle he rode in the video for the Kraftwerk hit “Tour de France.” There are also dozens of synthesizers, drum machines, guitars, flutes and other instruments and gear, plus vinyl albums, posters, clothing, furniture, and much more.
From the press release:
It is impossible to tell the story of electronic music without examining the pioneering beats, grooves, and performance aesthetics of Dusseldorf’s Kraftwerk and its founding member, Florian Schneider. Formed in 1970, the band brought an experimental approach to pop music, resulting in some of the most innovative and commercially successful electronic albums of the mid-1970s into the 1980s: Autobahn, Trans-Europe Express, The Man-Machine, and Computer World.
The Florian Schneider Collection is the first auction to feature a comprehensive collection of items from Florian’s personal life and career, providing a tantalizing glimpse at his and Kraftwerk’s often-enigmatic musical processes. The sale features over 450 lots of stage- and studio-played instruments and gear, clothing, artwork and furniture from Florian’s home and studios (as well as from Kraftwerk’s Kling Klang Studio), bicycles, Kraftwerk memorabilia, and Florian’s extensive collection of historic woodwind and brass instruments (flutes, clarinets, oboes, saxophones, horns, tubas, and one-of-a-kind oddities).
