In spite of what you read on Wikipedia, Gutter's English patent was, in fact, prior to 1883 -- in 1883, Gütter sold the rights to the chorded zither to Herman Lindemann from Klingenthal, near Markneukirchen. Lindemann's company traded in all types of musical instruments. Lindemann must have been quite irritated that others were manufacturing an instrument for which he owned the patent. In a monthly journal of 1890, he published the following statement: "Warning: I warn hereby especially not to buy or sell the recently sold instrument under the name of Chordzither or Autoharp that are in the market as imitations of my patent 'Volkszither.' I sued through the district attorney against the manufacturer C. F. Thierfeld against patent rights. Everyone of those individuals should be brought to court who sells these imitations in the stores." -- Signed: H. Lindemann, The Only Manufacturer of the Patented and Privileged "Volkszither."
-Adam Miller
Folksinging.org