Andreas Kägi was born into a family of musicians in Bern in 1948 and received his first cello lessons at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he began studying music at the Bern Conservatory and at the same time gave successful performances, but in the end opted against an instrumentalist career. His interests were diverse, ranging from literature to the natural sciences to handicraft, which ultimately spurred his choice of career. In 1971 he began training as a violin maker in Mittenwald. In 1974, Rudolf Pliverics offered him a job in Berlin. In 1978 he moved to Zurich for two more journeyman years, where he found further important inspiration from Günther Rass (Hug & Co).
In 1981, Kägi passed the master's examination and became self-employed in Berlin in the same year. The isolated location of West Berlin certainly had some drawbacks for a young entrepreneur, but on the other hand the wide array of culture on offer provided an ideal space for creativity. Kägi developed numerous new techniques in the field of repair and restoration and soon had young employees from all over the world. This in turn brought new challenges and new methods and the exchange of knowledge and skills grew steadily and has intensified with the years.
