It's beautiful, but what is it?

[Kirsten]

My mother bought this in 1954 in Gotha, Germany. She thinks it's a ROPUS. Who knows? Any ideas what it is and it's approx. value?

[Timbofood]

There is a variant of the “Ropus” also known as the “Hook ‘em”.
Sorry, I’ll go to the corner now.
I have no clue what to tell you about it.

[allenhopkins]

It looks like a fairly representative German-made instrument: slotted headstock, inlaid pickguard, multi-segment "dome" back made of several woods.

I did a Google search on "ROPUS mandolin" and came up empty. Where did she get that name from? There are a bunch of builders around the town of Markneukirchen, a center of German luthiery, that produced instruments like that. Here's a page on German mandolin makers that may give you some similar instruments to compare.

As to value, hard to say. That style of mandolin isn't common in the US, and those that I've seen on auction sites, have been priced in the low hundreds of dollars.

[Bertram Henze]

Gotha was in East Germany at the time and was cut off with the rest of the GDR after 1956, but East German instruments still made it to the West - good quality for little money. My first mandolin was one of those.
No financial value worth speaking of, I am afraid. The best use for it is as a starter instrument.

[Charlieshafer]

Bertram's right, great starter instrument. I'd learn to play on it if I were you. usually the older instruments like that are easy to fret, so the beginner fingers don't get so sore.

[Mark Gunter]

Allen, not sure if it's too late to edit your post, but the link is bad. Seems the URL is doubled there, the page you linked to is here: http://www.mandolinluthier.com/germa...lin_makers.htm

Kirsten, the value of that mandolin is probably not great in monetary terms, but it really is a very cool old instrument; if it plays well or can be made to play well, it would be great fun to play it.

[MikeEdgerton]

Similar instruments fail to sell weekly on eBay. Enjoy it for the family history it holds.

[allenhopkins]

Allen, not sure if it's too late to edit your post, but the link is bad. Seems the URL is doubled there, the page you linked to is here: http://www.mandolinluthier.com/germa...lin_makers.htm...

Thanx, Mark; musta hit "Command/V" twice. Put it down to age.

[LadysSolo]

I agree with the above posters, $200 or less in general, but you are correct Kirsten, it's beautiful! Many of the older instruments have great warm tone, learn to play it and enjoy!

[colorado_al]

It looks like a Musima from Markneukirchen, GDR. Here's a thread about one here:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...usima-Mandolin


This one sold for $166
https://www.ebay.com/itm/very-nice-v...p2047675.l2557

[Kirsten]

That makes sense. My mother is from East Germany.

[Willie Poole]

I bought an old banjo mandolin in N.Y. many years ago and it has just about the same inlays on the resonator as your instrument has on the back, mine also has the slotted headstock where the tuners are...I paid $30 for it, but it needed a LOT of work, I don`t play it though, it is a wall hanger...Now I know a little more about it, I guess...

Willie

[allenhopkins]

I bought an old banjo mandolin in N.Y. many years ago and it has just about the same inlays on the resonator as your instrument has on the back, mine also has the slotted headstock where the tuners are...

Signs of European manufacture: slotted headstock and extensive marquetry or multi-wood inlays on the back. And, in mandolins, the "dome-back" silhouette. Plus, the "zero fret."