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In Thüringen the cittern seems to have existed in a time warp throughout the 17th and 18th Century. While citterns elsewhere went through a number of metamorphosises, the Thüringer remained very much the same. There were a number of variants with more strings, but the basic ninestringed early 19th Century Thüringer Zither was all but identical to the "standard" renaissance cittern. The only significant difference was that the nine strings had been reconfigured into five rather than four courses. During the 19th Century the instrument became known as the Thüringer Waldzither and eventually the reference to Thüringen faded out and the instrument became known simply as the Waldzither. Around 1900 Hamburg mandolin manufacturer C. H. Böhm picked up the Waldzither idea and started manufacturing - and above all marketing - it in large quantities. Böhm made to changes in the construction: a bridge made from glass and Preston tuners similar to the ones common on the English guitar. The latter has made many people search for a connection between the Waldzither and the English guitar. But there doesn't really seem to be any and Böhm also used similar tuners on their mandolins. The instrument manufactured by Böhm and by others copying their design are sometimes referred to as "Hamburger Waldzither" or "Böhm Waldzither" as opposed to the traditional "Thüringer Waldzither." There aren't that many significant differences between the two though, so they should probably be reagrded as a single type of instrument. At least one manufcaturer helped blur the line between the two designs by offering the same instruments both with Preston tuners and regular guitar tuners. Content | |||||||||||||