Mrs. Krumbholz-Kole included Residentie Orkest in her will. The estate includes a violin. Her husband, Will Krumbholz, who died 20 years ago, played it daily since childhood. The violin was made especially for Will by his father, renowned violin maker Lorenz Krumbholz. A lot of stories come together in this violin. Some of them Truus Krumbholz-Kole would like to share with us. 

Lorenz Krumbholz was born in 1886 in Dürngrün, Bohemia. He went on "Wanderschaft" and trained as a violin maker in Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam, among other places. He eventually chose The Hague as his place of employment, where he completed his training with Johann Stüber at the Noordeinde. In the mid-1930s, Lorenz Krumbholz established himself with his own studio on Muzenstraat, right across from the artists' entrance to the Building for Arts and Sciences, popularly known as K&W. By now he had married, and by 1929 a son had been born. The label of the violin Lorenz built for him in 1941 reads, "Gebaut für meinen Sohn Wilhelm. 

"When the war broke out, the atmosphere in town changed," Mrs. Krumbholz says. "My father-in-law, as well as Will, were suddenly identified by some with the German occupiers. They suffered greatly as a result. There were also violin-playing German soldiers among his customers in those days, but if they wore their uniforms, he wouldn't let them in." 

Wil, meanwhile, showed himself to be a great talent on the violin. That got noticed, and he had to play for Seys Inquart at Huize Clingendael. "It was something that Will could not refuse," he said.

During the occupation years, Will, as the son of a German, was forced to attend the Deutsche Schule in The Hague. If not, the Germans would close his father's studio. In the summers, he had to attend the Deutsche Schule in Sterksel, North Brabant, where he and hundreds of other children of German or NSB background received a "Hitler Jugend" education. 

"With shooting lessons and all, Will hated it! In the spring of 1944, when the Germans were already panicked by the Allied threat, all the students were transported to central Germany. In a small castle on the Böhme River, they received lessons for the first few months, but the teachers, as well as the older boys, were soon called to the front. The other children were left alone, without leadership, without food. They went out of necessity to steal food from farmers in the area, including Will. Many months passed. More and more children fled, mostly in groups. One day Will, too, started walking. By himself, in the direction of Holland. He hid during the day and walked at night. After a few weeks, he crossed the border near Enschede. A few days later, during his trip to The Hague, he heard that Bezuidenhout had been bombed on March 3, 1945: Will was terrified that his mother was no longer alive. They had not seen each other for a year and a half. When he rang his mother's doorbell in The Hague, she answered and spontaneously fainted..."

Will's father Lorenz had died suddenly in 1942. "His mother ran the workshop alone at first. She was a strong woman, she knew a lot about violins, but specimens with breakdowns she could not repair. Late at night she would take them by bicycle to a violin maker in Rotterdam. And when it was ready, she cycled back and forth. After the war, violin maker Lorand Rácz, who, like Lorenz, had been apprenticed to Johann Stüber, spontaneously offered to help my mother. That eventually became a partnership."

In the 1950s, Will Krumbholz and Truus Kole, who already knew each other from hbs [the predecessor of havo], fell in love with each other. They married in 1956. "I helped in the violin studio on the Muzenstraat for many years after that. When customers had to wait a while, I would play shuffleboard with them. I played some shuffleboard in those years!"

Will Krumbholz had become a good violinist in the meantime. "Lorenz had hoped that his son would choose a career as a soloist, but Will didn't like that. Always traveling, always a strange bed, always studying, always being alone.... Will spent his life playing for fun, but at a high level. Will could play jazz very well, á la Hot club de France [including Stéphane Grapelli and Django Reinhardt]. He had a few bands of his own, including the "Golden Gaters," with violin, vocals, a few guitars and a bass. They released an album together. But Will also played at a dance school, as a tempo player." 

"There were always many famous string players coming to my mother-in-law's violin store. Sometime in the early sixties there was Tata Mirando, who would play in the evening with his sons at the then famous Den Hout restaurant. He asked if Will and I would come and listen. Well, we of course went there. Halfway through the evening Will was handed a violin by one of Tata's sons: 'You're going to play with us.' They played late into the night!" 

Will Krumbholz passed away completely unexpectedly in 2000. "We were married for 44 years, we were real life buddies," she said. Of Will's violin, Truus Krumbholz could not part with it until recently, "It has not been played on for twenty years, and I now think it is time to pass it on. Will and I have gone to the Residentie Orkest to listen countless times. I volunteered there for many years. It was my wish to hand Will's violin over to the orchestra still in my lifetime, and hope that the violin will be played with love."