Amati

Graslitz in Bohemia is historically well-known for its musical instrument industry. Beginning in the 17th century with violin production, expanding to wind instruments in the 18th century. In 1840 the first factory was established and soon many others followed. Between the two World Wars, there were 59 different muscial instrument manufacturers in Graslitz. Some of the best known are Bohland&Fuchs, A.K. Hüttl and Julius Keilwerth. During WWII, a lot of factories had to close and others switched to weapons production. After the war, in september 1945, some manufacturers decided to work together in a new coöperative, named AMATI.
In 1990, AMATI became a privately owned company. However, due to some mismanagement it almost was bankrupt in 2021, but was saved by a new owner who once again turned it into a coöperative.

Today, Graslitz is in the Czech Republic and is known as Kraslice.