I've just been to the repairman to get my Hofner guitar back - a round trip of 600 miles!
After more than 40 years service the neck joins were starting to fail meaning that the neck had to be taken off and reglued - a job that took three months. But it sounds, looks and feels GREAT now!
Hofners were (and still are) made in Germany. They were very popular in Great Britain and Europe in the late 1950s and early/mid 1960s as US guitars were expensive and very hard to come by. A lot of the "Merseybeat" bands used them as did a young Dave Gilmour (later to join Pink Floyd).
The most famous users however were the Beatles. John Lennon used one in the Hamburg days as did Paul McCartney - firstly on rhythm and then his famous "Violin" bass.
The Beatles in Hamburg - Pete Best, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Stuart Sutcliffe. Paul is holding a Hofner Club 50 upside down. At this stage Stuart Sutcliffe was the bassist and Pete Best the drummer for the Beatles.
Paul on stage with his "Violin" bass in the Beatlemania period.