The Florian Schneider Collection auction

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by Will Kweks, Oct 24, 2025 at 9:11 AM.

  1. Will Kweks

    Will Kweks Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2023
    Messages:
    1,112
    Likes Received:
    763
    Right folks, I just decided to win the lottery this weekend and buy myself a Synthi suitcase used by Florian Schneider. That lot to be auctioned is just impressive, man.

    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).

    Bid on instruments and gear from all periods of Florian’s groundbreaking career with Kraftwerk, including flutes from the formative early albums and performances (such as Florian’s iconic 1960s Orsi alto flute) and a treasure trove of synths, drum machines, and vocoders (including an EMS Synthi AKS synthesizer, a Robovox and Votrax rack case, and a Roland M-160 line mixer). Also featured is a 1964 Volkswagen Type 2/T1 Kastenwagen (panel van), personally owned and driven by Florian, including in the 2007 German biographical film, Eight Miles High, and the Panasonic road bike ridden by Florian in the music video for Kraftwerk’s crossover single, “Tour De France.”

    https://www.juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/the-florian-schneider-collection?tab=details


    https://www.juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/the-florian-schneider-collection
     
    • Like Like x 5
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
    • List
  2.  
  3. AudioEnzyme

    AudioEnzyme Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2023
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    211
    • Like Like x 1
    • Love it! Love it! x 1
    • List
  4. PulseWave

    PulseWave Audiosexual

    Joined:
    May 4, 2025
    Messages:
    2,316
    Likes Received:
    1,294
    Florian Schneider (* 7 April 1947 in Öhningen-Kattenhorn;[1] † 21 April 2020 in Düsseldorf) was a German musician and composer. Together with Ralf Hütter, he founded the music group Organisation in 1968. From this group emerged the later world-famous band Kraftwerk in 1970, of which Schneider was a member until 2009.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. Will Kweks

    Will Kweks Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2023
    Messages:
    1,112
    Likes Received:
    763
    And adjust that for inflation and then the maintenance and just the fact that there aren't too many of those floating around... If it sells for the $6000 that is the current bid then the buyer will be fairly lucky I'd say.

    Still, this ad would make for a decent reprint:

    [​IMG]
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Funny Funny x 1
    • Winner Winner x 1
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  6. AudioEnzyme

    AudioEnzyme Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2023
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    211
    Yeah, things get heavy over the years. I bet 450£ was a lot of money back in the day... And still is!
    That ad is second to nun I guess, but it's not for everyone!
     
  7. clone

    clone Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2021
    Messages:
    9,297
    Likes Received:
    4,066
    It would likely go for about 10k-20k normally, depending on all the usual grading conditions. That's with no "Kraftwerk historical value" added to it. Their estimate might even be light.

    They only made about 1000 of them (per ai), and not every synth just survives 50 years. 450£ when it was released in 1972, is just around 7000£ adjusted for inflation. 1000 units might represent serial production, but not mass production. That's why more modern synths will never appreciate in value the same way. They make too many of anything.
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM
    • Like Like x 2
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
    • List
  8. ArticStorm

    ArticStorm Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Messages:
    8,578
    Likes Received:
    4,510
    Location:
    AudioSexPro
    is there a difference between any gear used by known people or just gear -- the same model from a random person?

    If you music is shit, it will also be shit with that particular gear :rofl:
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Funny Funny x 1
    • List
  9. PulseWave

    PulseWave Audiosexual

    Joined:
    May 4, 2025
    Messages:
    2,316
    Likes Received:
    1,294
    Yeah, you can't brag to others about all the things you own. I think John Lennon sunglasses now sell for 3,000 British pounds. EDIT: One of John Lennon's famous round sunglasses has been auctioned online for 137,500 pounds (165,000 euros) - twenty times its initial estimated value. For some, it's an investment. Others might sleep better if they own a VW bus or something else from Kraftwerk.

    An open question: who actually gets the money from the auction?
     
  10. Krypton85

    Krypton85 Kapellmeister

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2014
    Messages:
    69
    Likes Received:
    41
    Location:
    Germany
    The myth Kraftwerk themselves created around the band — and especially the Kling-Klang studio in Dusseldorf — has always led to wild speculation in the past about how those once-unique sounds might have been created. Many claimed to know what kind of equipment was in the studio, but few actually did. Now, one has the opportunity not only to get a glimpse behind the scenes, but also to become part of this history by bidding on instruments and devices — some of which were once used in the Kling-Klang studio during album recordings or even on stage to produce the band’s signature sound.

    The auction kind of destroys the myth a little, but of course it drives the prices up.

    One might hate it, as it so clearly confronts us with the transience of our own existence — but Kraftwerk, too, is slowly disappearing from this world, and with them the myth of the "Knöpfchendreher" from Dusseldorf. The “Konsumprodukt” no longer needs to be kept alive and has served its purpose.
     
  11. Synclavier

    Synclavier Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2014
    Messages:
    962
    Likes Received:
    627
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    this is my favorite lot
    floor-cart Maihak E-W49 Hi and Lo Pass Filter
     
    • Like Like x 3
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  12. Synclavier

    Synclavier Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2014
    Messages:
    962
    Likes Received:
    627
    It's also a little sad that all this will go to waste

    If I were them, I would open a museum.
     
  13. Pisŧöff

    Pisŧöff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2024
    Messages:
    25
    Likes Received:
    13
    Those shoes, tho[​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  14. shinyzen

    shinyzen Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2023
    Messages:
    1,287
    Likes Received:
    786
    OH MY GOD so much insane stuff in there.
     
  15. Somnambulist

    Somnambulist Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2024
    Messages:
    737
    Likes Received:
    586
    There's a flip side to this too.
    If the gear is shit and it is given to a great musician they can still make good music from it unless it is nearly destroyed and cannot make a sound. A good musician can make music from anything.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Love it! Love it! x 1
    • List
  16. PulseWave

    PulseWave Audiosexual

    Joined:
    May 4, 2025
    Messages:
    2,316
    Likes Received:
    1,294
  17. PulseWave

    PulseWave Audiosexual

    Joined:
    May 4, 2025
    Messages:
    2,316
    Likes Received:
    1,294
  18. hiorgos

    hiorgos Newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2025
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    1
    Ralf Hutter should buy all of this and build the definitive Kraftwerk Museum
     
  19. ArticStorm

    ArticStorm Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Messages:
    8,578
    Likes Received:
    4,510
    Location:
    AudioSexPro
    i sometimes clap rhythms for 20 mins, just exploring with velocity, different patterns, different sounds. its a lot of fun.
     
  20. ᑕ⊕ֆᗰIᑢ

    ᑕ⊕ֆᗰIᑢ Rock Star

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2022
    Messages:
    533
    Likes Received:
    310
    My road bike has the same exact Weinmann brake handles.. :yes:
    must have been the std in 70's germany..
     
  21. ᑕ⊕ֆᗰIᑢ

    ᑕ⊕ֆᗰIᑢ Rock Star

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2022
    Messages:
    533
    Likes Received:
    310
    I'd say the Saxos are dirt cheap,
    whoever "expert" appraised them is not getting the full picture..

    A Conn Sax from the 1920's in mint condition played by Florian from Kraftwerk.. valued at 400€
    give me two! :guru:

    Also the Flutes, Clarinets..
    ofc when selling in bulk value goes down, but those prices makes no sense
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Loading...
Similar Threads - Florian Schneider Collection Forum Date
Florian Schneider (Kraftwerk) Honor Petition AudioSEX Memorial May 8, 2020
R.I.P. Florian Schneider AudioSEX Memorial May 6, 2020
Beat Magazine & elysia Contest: Make a Beat with Moses Schneider Drum Samples Working with Sound Feb 14, 2024
Meet the german music genius Helge Schneider Music Nov 30, 2022
Loading...