This online autoharp history mentions the granting of a patent for the autoharp to C.F. Zimmerman in the USA in 1882. Mr Zimmerman had been born in Saxony (a German state in Europe) and he later migrated to the USA. He had seen this adapted instrument of the classical Zither family in his native Saxony before he left for America where he began manufacturing autoharps.

great photo, Tone!