In the early years of the car industry, car horns and fire engine horns constituted the main focus for production. During these years, many sports and cycling teams and voluntary fire services started up “Martin bands”. By 1905, these bands were able to showcase more demanding pieces of music using 8-note Martin trumpets, manufactured in different pitches. 16-note Martin trumpets expanded this delivery range from the 80s onwards.

In 1932, the Deutsche Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik worked together with the fire services and police stations to develop a horn that was legally stipulated as the special signal for priority vehicles with right of way (“the warning device with a series of tones of different frequencies”). This was when the MARTIN-HORN® became a protected brand name. Up until the second world war, these signalling horns for emergency vehicles were manufactured exclusively by the company Deutsche Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik.

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