Michael Mietke, 1700 c.a.


This instrument is kept at  Charlottenburg Castle, Berlin

Some sources ascribe four harpsichords to this famous harpsichord maker of the Prussian court in Berlin.  Mietke enjoyed such fame that in 1719 J. S. Bach was commissioned by Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen to go to Berlin to buy a harpsichord with two manuals for his chapel.
In  Charlottenburg Castle in Berlin are preserved two harpsichords, respectively one with single manual, two registers 8 ‘and brass strings and the second with two manuals and three registers, 8′-8′ and 4 ‘, both owned by the Queen of Prussia Sophie Charlotte who was an excellent musician and performer.
These instruments are not signed  but correspond precisely to a harpsichord, which was discovered in 1991 in Hudiksvall, Sweden. This shows on the key of the highest c the following inscription: “Michael Mietke Instrumentalmacher Anno 1710″. In this way the attribution of both instruments in Berlin  is confirmed and guaranteed.