DHL Global Event Logistics (GEL) transports historic musical instruments that once belonged to Holocaust victims to the Berlin Philharmonic.
Transporting musical instruments is nothing unusual for our colleagues at Global Event Logistics. But this time, the challenge was a special one. Andreas Mattick, GEL’s expert in all matters culture and music, had just three working days to organize the transport of 55 string instruments (53 violins, one viola and one cello) from New York to Berlin. But these were no regular instruments, they are witnesses to our past. Known as the “Violins of Hope," these instruments belonged to victims and survivors of the Holocaust and were collected by the Weinstein family of violin makers.
They were due to arrive in Berlin in time for a concert in the Berlin Philharmonic to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. To mark the event, the musicians of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra were scheduled to take to the stage of the Berlin Philharmonic to perform the world premiere of a specially composed work on these original instruments.
Global Event Logistics organized a temperature-controlled airfreight container to fly the historic instruments from Newark Liberty Airport, New York, to Berlin. The instruments that made up the consignment are valued at approx. €770,000 and should ideally be kept at a steady 17-21 degrees Celsius during transport. "We’ve been entrusted with more expensive instruments. But with these violins, the symbolic value is, of course, much higher – priceless," explains Andreas Mattick.
Violins of Hope
The "Violins of Hope" are a collection of string instruments that belonged to Holocaust victims and survivors. They are now looked after and maintained by violin maker Avshi Weinstein. Weinstein's grandfather started the collection in Tel Aviv, Israel, after the Second World War, and his son Amnon Weinstein continued the collection. Orchestras all over the world now give concerts with these stringed instruments which are infused with so much history.
After the concert in Berlin, the "Violins of Hope” were back on the road. "The violins are not packed in the usual hard-shell cases, which is why we treated them like they’re made of eggshells," says Mattick. Cocooned in packaging, they were transported in a container by truck from Berlin to Munich and then onwards by plane to Charlotte, North Carolina (USA). From there, the journey continues by truck to Jacksonville, Florida, to the next musicians, who will keep the memory of the past alive at an upcoming concert.
DHL Global Event Logistics
DHL Global Event Logistics (GEL) is a subsidiary of DHL Freight and specializes in international trade fair and event logistics. GEL is divided into five areas: Trade fairs, events, automobility, solution design and congresses. The colleagues work together with other DHL divisions worldwide to find customized (transport) solutions.
Photos: Kay Herschelmann
