🔗 Share this article

He was trailblazer in the electronic genre with the group the pioneering act transformed the sound of pop and influenced musicians ranging from Bowie to Run-DMC.

Currently, the electronic equipment and performance items employed by Schneider to create some of the band’s best-known songs in the 1970s and 1980s may bring in substantial bids when they are sold in a November auction.

First Listen into Late Personal Work

Compositions from an independent endeavor he had been creating just before he died from cancer in his seventies in 2020 can be heard initially in a video related to the event.

Wide Array of His Items

Together with the compact synthesizer, his wind instrument and robotic voice devices – that he employed to make his voice sound like a robot – enthusiasts can try to buy approximately 500 his personal effects at the auction.

Among them are the assortment over a hundred wind and brass items, numerous Polaroid photographs, his sunglasses, his travel document for his travels before 1979 plus his custom van, which he custom-painted grey.

His Panasonic Panaracer bicycle, featured in Kraftwerk’s Tour de France music video and shown in the release's graphics, will also go under the hammer later this month.

Bidding Particulars

The total estimated value of the sale is $450,000 to $650,000.

Kraftwerk were groundbreaking – among the earliest acts that used synthesisers producing sounds unlike anything prior.

Fellow musicians considered their music astonishing. They came across a fresh route within sound pioneered by the band. This motivated many acts to shift towards synthesizer-based tunes.

Featured Lots

• An effects unit probably the one Kraftwerk used for recordings from the late '70s and Computer World in 1981 could fetch $30K–$50K.
• The portable EMS model likely utilized on Kraftwerk’s 1974 album the famous record has an estimate of $15K–$20K.
• The flute, a classic design featured in performances on stage with the synthesiser until 1974, is valued at up to five figures.

Distinctive Objects

Among the lowest-priced items, a collection with dozens of snapshots Schneider took of his woodwind and brass instruments is on sale for $100 to $200.

Other quirky objects, such as a see-through, bright yellow acrylic guitar and an unusual 16-inch model of a fly, placed on Schneider’s studio wall, are priced at $200 to $400.

His framed eyewear with green lenses along with instant photos showing him with these could sell for $300 to $500.

Official Message

His view was that gear deserves activity and circulated – not sitting idle or remaining untouched. He wanted his instruments to go to individuals that will cherish them: musicians, collectors and fans by audio creativity.

Lasting Influence

Reflecting on their contribution, an influential artist stated: Starting out, they inspired us. Autobahn was an album that made us all sit up and say: this is new. They were doing innovative work … something completely new – they intentionally avoided earlier approaches.”