Kurt Scherzer Augsburg trumpet from 1948

Jackflef · New Member Joined: 01 Jul 2018 Posts: 1

I got a horn from my Grandpa a few years back which he bought in 1948 when he was in the US Army band. He told me that he bought it with cigarettes while he was in Germany.

It is a B flat rotary valve trumpet with the valves to the side like a French horn. It has a plain brass finish (no lacquer coating or anything so it's super tarnished now) and my grandpa's name engraved into the bell.

I also found the purchase contract for it very recently, which is how I found out that it was made by Kurt Scherzer in Augsburg. When I searched for more info about Kurt Scherzer, I found a lot of info about J. Scherzer and a German politician named Kurt Scherzer, but not much about the trumpet maker. I did find this [url] https://marge.home.xs4all.nl/tarv.htm#.WcPEEMhJaUl[/url]
Which had some info about horns made by Kurt Scherzer.

However, I can't find anything about this particular model of horn. I found that he made rather famous D trumpets and Piccolo trumpets, but nothing about B flat rotary trumpets like the one I have.
Does anyone know more about these trumpets or trumpet maker? I don't imagine the instrument I have is (was?) particularly rare or expensive, but I can't find any others like it.

Here are some pictures:
https://imgur.com/gallery/8vTKE

boog · Veteran Member Joined: 04 Jun 2014 Posts: 247

Really cool rotary. You ought to have it professionally cleaned for preservation purposes. Most of the rotary Bb trumpets you see for sale are from the old Soviet Union, mostly Czech made, and poor quality.

Don't know much about this brand, but apparently the firm that made it was noted for quality instruments.

Sorry I could not offer any information about this instrument, but I enjoyed seeing your pictures and the story about your grandfather. I have an old Gibson guitar that my father owned when he was a boy. I have a picture of him holding it when he was apparently around 10-15 years old, probably in the 1930's. I finally retired it about 20 years ago after dragging it around thru college and most of my guitar-playing adulthood. It needs repair, but I am unable to locate a luthier in reasonable driving distance that I would trust with it, and I will not ship!

I am sure you will find somebody on this forum that can give you some information about this trumpet.

Good Luck, Dave