Geo answer

For today’s Geo Quiz — we’re zooming in on a town in the German state of Saxony.

It’s located where the Czech Republic juts into Germany. This town is home to some master musical instrument makers.

Their brass and wooden instruments show up on stages around the world.

The town’s nickname is “Saxony’s Cremona” … a reference to the Italian city that’s home to the Stradivarius violin.

One of Saxony’s most talented craftsmen picked up and left town in 1833 to follow his dream.

We’ll tell you more about CF Martin in a couple of minutes. First try to name this German Saxon town that’s linked to some of the best guitars around (a whole lot of strumming).

We’re rewinding back to 1833 to answer today’s Geo Quiz. That’s the year Christian Frederick Martin left Germany and moved to the United States. The Martin Guitar company has been building its signature acoustic guitars ever since. This year marks the company’s 175th anniversary.

Listen to our interview with Chris Martin IV, CEO and chairman of the Martin Guitar Company in Nazareth Pennsylvania who tells us about his great, great, great grandfather who grew up in Markneukirchen, Germany, the answer to our Geo Quiz.

C.F. Martin came from a long line of woodworkers — by the age of 15 he was an apprenticing at a guitar workshop in Vienna, Austria. By 1883 he was on his way to America to launch what would become the C.F. Martin Guitar Company.

C.F. MartinC.F. Martin

You can hear Chris Martin’s thoughts on:

CM on how the design of a Martin guitar has changed since the 1830’s:

CM on the challenge of finding new woods to build guitars as supplies of traditional Brazilian rosewood, African ebony, and mahogany dwindle:

CM on next week’s auction at Christy’s, New York City, of 50 rare Martin guitars in honor of the guitar makers’ 175th anniversary:

CM on the increasing popularity of guitars compared with declining sales of recorded cds and music: