Hohner is, quite simply, the house of the harmonica. Matthias Hohner founded it in 1857, aged twenty-four, in Trossingen, a town in Baden-Württemberg where the company is still based. Within a few years the German harmonica travelled with emigration to the United States and became the portable instrument par excellence; the Marine Band, its most famous model, is the one heard across much of the history of the blues.
It has held that world-leading position in accordions too, and over the years it has moved into school instruments, where its recorder and melodica are classroom staples across much of the world.
At DJMania its catalogue is dominated by harmonicas — over one hundred and seventy references, diatonic and chromatic, in every key — followed by accordions, recorders and melodicas such as the Student 32 and the Fire, among the most viewed items of the brand.
It is one of those brands you can start with at seven years old in school and keep playing for the rest of your life.