The cow-shepherd's horn

 

  sound samble 1

      sound samble 2

 

is made of spruce wood and was actually not a musical instrument in the traditional sense, but a working instrument of the cow-shepherd in the Thuringian Forest.
It has a length of about 120 to 180 cm.

Long before what alphorn spread, signals were transmitted with the shepherd's horn.

Similar instruments existed in all mountain regions in Europe.

In contrast to the pig-shepherd, the cow-shepherd in the Thuringian Forest was the second most important man in the village after the mayor.

In "Zella-Mehlis" there were regular shepherd meetings with competition on the shepherd's horn.

(More information in the brochure.)