After Bastian Passed Away, This Forgotten Cabin Stayed Closed Beside the Pines
This woodland cabin belonged to Bastian Riek for nearly thirty-four years.
Bastian worked as a violin bow hair sorter, preparing and grading horsehair bundles used by instrument makers and restoration workshops.
The cabin remained simple:
front room, compact kitchen, bedroom, and a narrow sorting room where Bastian cleaned, aligned, and prepared bow hair by hand.
The Horsehair Cabinet Span
Several details still remain inside:
- sorted hair bundles tied carefully
- tension combs resting beside trays
- supplier ledgers stacked near shelves
- wool field coats hanging near hooks
- polishing resin blocks stored inside drawers
- parcel twine resting beside the wall
- unfinished bow sets preserved beneath the span
Bastian had lived alone since his younger brother passed away and rarely spent time outside the forest district where he had worked for decades.
The sorting room shaped his livelihood and his routine.
Former clients often remembered the unusual quiet of the cabin and the careful precision of his worktables.
During Bastian’s later years, international supply disruptions and tightening animal transport restrictions severely disrupted access to the materials his trade depended upon.
Work became increasingly uncertain.
Still, he continued preparing hair for longtime luthiers and preserving traditional grading techniques.
One succession of bark beetle infestations devastated surrounding forest sections and led to widespread logging operations near the cabin.
The constant machinery, dust, and disruption worsened Bastian’s long-standing anxiety and declining health.
He passed away quietly at home during late autumn.
His nephew attended the funeral but later relocated and never maintained the property.
The cabin remained closed.
Most belongings stayed untouched.
Today the cabin still reflects Bastian’s careful routine.
The resin blocks remain inside the drawers.
The ledgers still rest beside the shelves.
And beneath the horsehair cabinet span, Bastian’s final unfinished violin bow bundle remains exactly where he left it.
