The world’s biggest violin needs three people to play it – and it sounds epic and thunderous

20 June 2023, 17:23

Guinness World Records - World's Largest Violin

Weighing over 130kg, this ginormous instrument is the largest playable violin in the whole world...

Musicians across the world have set and broken all kinds of Guinness World Records over the years, including the ‘lowest vocal note sung by a human’, and ‘longest melody played by a model train’.

But one feat that stands tall above the rest (14 feet, to be exact) is the world’s biggest violin.

Measuring 4.27 metres tall, and 1.4 metres wide, this gigantic string instrument was made in 2010 by 15 different luthiers in Markneukirchen, a notable instrument-maker region in Germany. It took over 2,000 hours to make, which works out to around 83 days!

The violin, which weighs over 130 kilograms, is playable. But unlike your standard-size instrument, it takes three people to play it due to its dimensions: two on each end of the 5.22-metre bow, and one to press down on the strings (via a step-ladder).

Have a listen to its ground-shakingly low sound below...

Read more: Tiny model train plays huge 2,840-note classical music medley with breathtaking accuracy

World's Largest Violin -- Exclusive Shoot

While there are bigger violin statues and models out there, such as the 40-metre tall ‘fiddle’ which welcomes tourists into the port of Sydney in Nova Scotia, Canada, the Markneukirchen holds the Guinness World Record (GWR) for size due to its playability.

The violin was the brainchild of master luthier, Ekkard Seidl. The historically musical town of Markneukirchen celebrated its 650th anniversary in 2010, and to mark this milestone Seidl decided to create the world’s largest violin with some of his colleagues.

The team of string makers were presented with the Guinness World Record in 2011. Along with the violin, the team were invited to the records headquarters in London, to demonstrate their instrument that same year.

The instrument sounds three octaves lower than your standard violin, and even had its own concerto written for it; the ‘Rhapsody for Giant Violin and Orchestra’.

Over a decade later, no instrument makers have managed to break the impressive record that the Markneukirchen team set with their giant violin. You can see the violin for yourself in the Musical Instrument Museum in Markneukirchen, which houses over 3,100 instruments from around the world.