Fire at the Berlin Philharmonic

[Bass Barrister]

I somehow missed this story regarding the fire at the Berlin Phil last Tuesday (5/20):

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...554495,00.html

Apparently, the actual damage is thankfully less severe than orginally reported. Most importantly, no one was injured since the fire started just as a concert was letting out and a half hour before a rehearsal involving 700 musicians was to begin.

Reports of this fire state that a number of musicians rushed to the hall upon learning of the fire and, aided by firefighters, were able to remove stored instruments. Another 50 "priceless" instruments were also removed to safety. I find it hard to imagine that this would happen here.

Concert grand pianos and tympani were left behind. They should have left the violas as well

This does give me some pause to think about how well my instruments are secured and protected. What I have is certainly not "priceless" but losing it would leave devestated. It's time to look into some instrument insurance. . .

[dave88]

Every instrument I've ever owned, that cost more than a grand, I've insured. Its really cheap too, I've got 30k coverage for instruments at only 100$ a year. ESPECIALLY if you're an upright player, you've got to insure.

[robobass]

It's pretty amazing. There are so few fires in Germany. The building codes are very strict I'm told, and most buildings of this vintage appear to my eye as having twelve to fifteen times the amount of concrete that would be structurally necessary. Still they do happen. Our rehearsal hall had a small fire a few months ago. Some idiot neighbors burned some trash nearby (highly illegal here, which is likely why they did it there, and not in their backyard) and it lit up part of the outside of the building. It didn't actually burn anything inside nor damage any instruments, but the residue from smoke and extinguishing chemicals made the main hall unusable for many weeks. We had to rehearse in school auditoriums! The lesson restated: Insure! Get supplemental insurance if you can, like for bass rental, studio rental if you teach/rehearse at home, etc. We were a little weak on that front, I'm told. Well, the show must go on!
Robobass