A sad song: Violins lost in fire

Long a Capitol Hill institution, Herman Bischofberger's violin shop is known to many by a simple hand-painted sign: "Violin Maker."

But yesterday, a burned violin adorned with some flowers was draped over the familiar sign, a makeshift memorial set up after a four-alarm fire that swept through the violin store at 1314 E. John St. and caused more than $650,000 in damage to two shops and a vacant house.

Nobody was hurt in the 3:30 a.m. blaze, which began in the vacant house next to the violin shop. The fire gutted the violin shop's main showroom, which was filled with stringed instruments and accessories.

Although firefighters managed to save 50 violins, the front display room contained about half of the shop's value, said Kenneth Bischofberger, co-owner and Herman's son. He estimated between 30 and 40 cellos were lost, each costing from $4,000 to $16,000.

Fire investigators said late yesterday that loss to contents inside the shop was estimated at $300,000 to $350,000. Investigators had not pinpointed the exact origin of the fire, and the cause was undetermined, Fire Department spokeswoman Sheila Strehle said.

"Everything was going fine until this event," said Kenneth Bischofberger. "Now we just have to relocate and find somewhere else."

He said the shop had insurance.

A smaller fire occurred in the same vacant house two months ago, Bischofberger family members said, adding that transients had frequented the house.

The vacant house was demolished by the fire, with loss estimated at $100,000, Strehle said, and loss to the structure housing the violin shop and Christmas in Seattle business was estimated at $175,000.

Firefighters managed to put out the fire before it could spread to the Christmas in Seattle merchandise store. Boxes of ornaments, fabric and trees sustained $25,000 to $30,000 damage, Strehle said.

A Swiss immigrant, Herman Bischofberger learned the violin-making trade from his grandfather and came to America in 1946 by answering a want ad in a Danish newspaper.

Ten years later, after working in Chicago, Bischofberger arrived in Seattle with his family and just a few instruments in the trunk of his car, daughter Denise Bischofberger said. He began making and repairing violins and other stringed instruments on Denny Way in Capitol Hill.

Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Charles E. Brown is included in this report.