Waldzither

German style of cittern, a plucked string instrument

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Waldzither
String instrument
Hamburg waldzither
Classification	String instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	321.322 (necked box lute)
Developed	Germany

The waldzither (German: "forest zither") is a plucked string instrument from Germany. It is a type of cittern that has nine (sometimes ten) steel strings in five courses. Different types of waldzither come in different tunings, which are generally open tunings as usual in citterns.

Producers of the waldzither attempted to establish it as a national instrument of Germany in the first half of the 20th century, when more complicated instruments were hard to get and to afford. Martin Luther was popularly said to have played a similar cittern at the Wartburg.^[1]^[2]

Waldoline

When the lowest single course is omitted, it is sometimes called a waldoline, a portmanteau of waldzither and mandoline.^[3]

References

^ "Waldzither - Bibliography of the 19th century". Studia Instrumentorum. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
^ "The Stringed Instrument Database: Index". stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com.
^ "The Stringed Instrument Database: W-Z". stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com.