According to Edith Reiter's 2014 book, this instrument was completed on 1 May 1906 and originally sold within Germany. Based on Mike Frederick's list, heckelphone #19 was built as a model 36b ("German system"), but modified in the 1950s by Franz Groffy at Heckel GmbH to more closely resemble a model 36i (precursor of the conservatory system). The two pieces of the bell are permanently connected and a septum has been installed, along with a metal plate that spans the opening at the bottom; the original large hole in the front of the bell has been narrowed by means of a special insert, and two additional holes have been drilled near the back of the bell.
As of July 2024, this heckelphone is owned and played by Holger Hoos. Before Hoos purchased this instrument in 2022, it belonged to Samuel Andreyev, Strasbourg (France), a Canadian composer and writer residing in France, who acquired heckelphone #19 in 2006 from Georg Meerwein, principal oboist of the Bamberg Symphony (Bamberger Symphoniker, Germany). Meerwein acquired it from Walter Mang, a collector of rare woodwind instruments who lived in Heidelberg (Germany) and tragically died on 20 March 1961, in a fire in his home that also destroyed his collection - except for heckelphone #19 and a piccolo heckelphone, which he had lent out to someone at the time. Incidentally, Mang was a member of the US Volunteer Life Saving Corps New York, and founding member of the DLRG (German Life Saving Association, the largest voluntary water rescue organization in the world). It appears that Walter Mang was the first owner of heckelphone #19, and the original wooden case has a metal plaque bearing his name.
As of July 2024, Heckelphone #19 is in excellent condition and played regularly. It could be heard at the 2024 heckelphone festival in Kloster Eberbach and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, played by Kyle Sneden. While owned by Samuel Andreyev, this instrument was regularly used by various orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de France and Orchestre de Radio France. It is also featured on Andreyev's album "The Tubular West" (e.g., in Track 12, "Winter in Århus" and Track 2, "Pluto's Matches").
