Kraftwerk’s Florian Schneider’s instruments to go up for auction

Equipment and memorabilia owned by the late Kraftwerk musician, Florian Schneider, are set to go up for auction in November. 

Some of the equipment and instruments used to create some of the group's best-known songs of the 1970s and 1980s will be available to bid on online on Julien’s Auctions’ website. The sale includes over 450 of his personal possessions from his estate.

Among the items going up for auction are his collection of over 100 brass and woodwind instruments, synthesisers, his custom-painted grey VW panel van, the passport he used while touring until 1978, his sunglasses, Polaroid photographs, and his Panasonic Panaracer bicycle, which he rode in Kraftwerk’s ‘Tour de France’ music video and which is depicted on the single’s artwork.

There is also a large model fly, a vintage dentist's chair, oversized scissors, clothing, promotional Kraftwerk posters, an eight-string pedal steel guitar, and paintings.

The total estimated value of the sale, which will take place on Wednesday 18th November in Nashville, Tennessee, is $450,000 to $650,000 (£335,000 to £485,000).

Head of music at Julien’s Auctions, Giles Moon, said: “Kraftwerk were groundbreaking – they were one of the first bands that used synthesisers and they created music that no one had ever heard of before. It was very unworldly and it moved music forward in a way nobody had ever seen, in a totally different direction that most people probably didn’t think was even possible.”

A spokesperson for Schneider’s estate said: “He always believed that they [his instruments and personal collection] are meant to be played and shared – not left unused or gathering dust in storage.

“He wanted his equipment to find their way to people who would truly value them: musicians, collectors and those inspired by the art of sound.”

The German pioneer of electronic music died from cancer in 2020, aged 73.

​You can see all of Schneider’s items up for auction here. 

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