Hermann Hauser
Guitar Foundation

The Hermann Hauser Guitar Foundation is a non-profit foundation under civil law based in Munich. Its purpose is the promotion and cultivation of science and culture in the field of guitar and lute music. The foundation is active worldwide.

The foundation realizes its purpose by researching and presenting the historical foundations of the development of the guitar as a musical instrument, including instrument making, and by building up a collection of instruments accessible to the public, in particular also through fiduciary activities in the field of instrument collection and care, as well as by awarding prizes to producing or reproducing musicians and media artists as well as musicologists who make special achievements in the field of guitar studies. This is intended to promote their artistic work and make valuable works of art accessible to the public (art prize). The art prize is awarded under the name "Nymphenburg Guitar Art Prize". In the two years between the awarding of the Art Prize, the Foundation awards a one-off sponsorship prize to support students of guitar. The prize is called the "Hermann Hauser Prize".

The foundation was established in 2005 by the Munich entrepreneur Klaus Wolfgang Wildner together with the master guitar maker Hermann Hauser III. The name of the foundation goes back to the Munich guitar maker Hermann Hauser I (1882-1952). Hermann Hauser I built one of the most famous concert guitars for the Spanish guitar legend Andrés Segovia in 1937. This Hermann Hauser guitar from 1937 is now an integral part of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.