High expectations were caused by a number of articles and lectures on Tielke and his environment by Friedemann Hellwig.
Instruments by Joachim Tielke are highly valued objects in many collections-no wonder, no other maker so consistently applied decorative techniques like marquetry work, appliqués, and carvings and who lavishly used costly materials like extra-European species of wood, ivory, tortoise-shell, and semi-precious stones. It was the luthier, Günther Hellwig, more than three decades ago, who published a monograph on Joachim Tielke (1641-1719) (Joachim Tielke. Ein Hamburger Lauten-und Violen macher der Barockzeit, Frankfurt am Main, 1980). This was a valuable contribution to our knowledge of this German maker who may be called the most important maker of bowed and plucked musical instruments. His publication considerably enhanced Tielke's reputation, but the book has been out of print for many years. This raised the curiosity of experts and laymen as to what new and additional discoveries a new edition would offer. High expectations were caused by a number of articles and lectures on Tielke and his environment by Friedemann Hellwig. Now he and his wife Barbara Hellwig have published their findings in a grand and prestigious volume.