Capitol Hill’s Bischofberger Violins survived a fire 10 years ago this summer that gutted the shop that had been a staple on Capitol Hill since the 1950s when it was opened by Herman Bischofberger. A decade later, it’s still with us. Now the store is run by Herman’s son, Kenneth. The violin shop suffered through that major fire a decade ago which put the shop on the move and forced the business to relocate twice. Despite the economy taking a major downturn in recent time, the violin shop seems to have settled in on East John just fine.

The white and blue house where the shop is located seems to be a facade to what’s inside. In the shop, the wooden floors match the amber colored instruments located throughout the two story building. The innards contain hundreds if not thousands of violins, cellos and violas in the showroom and repair area.  “[I] finally found the people who are most pleasant to work with. They do a good job helping people,” said Kenneth who works alongside two other of his employees in the back workshop area.

Even though the shop has moved on — twice — it’s obvious the fire is still a defining event for the shop. “Everyone knew when the fire happened, people talked about it,” said Ramona Barber, a employee and at the time of the fire, a high school student on Mercer Island.

The Seattle Fire Department estimated damages to the shop to be near $350,000. According to the Seattle Times, insurance helped pay to replace most of the lost inventory.

Kenneth said recovery was, indeed, about moving on. “You felt like you were walking upside down, a major change in direction but life continues on.” The store lost its one-of-a-kind collection of instruments, with artistic pieces in different patterns compared to the “normal” designs, Kenneth said.

For Bischofberger Violins, the song continues and survival has been encouraging. In turn, Kenneth said he likes to encourage his customers.

“[We] encourage an incentive to our customers try out and see if they like anything and make it possible for them. We try to make them happy and serve their needs,” said Kenneth.