Although the Austrians were the main culprits, West Germans (as they were at the time) got in on the act too:
Thanks for reminding me. Thing is, stick to the dry ones. They're not improved by glycol.
I've had a number of Spätburgunder Trocken that were really impressive. I've even had one from western Czechia that was very good. Not cheap, but quality isn't.
TE:
200CDR and 3552A are home. SK sale, ex-service engineer. Picked up and had a nice chat with the original owners son.
Common: Clean, no brokenness, some stickers, well kept.
200CDR: Works. Off 0,6% in frequency (in spec!) as measured by a recently home-checkibrated (a neologism that says "I've checked it against my DMMCheck plus") 8060A. Gives 20 fine volts unterminated, and drives small speakers. Very smooth tone, as can be expected by a Wien bridge. German build, one of the very last ones, I guess, judging from the 1981 changelevel (G218). It was in the 1984 catalogue, which really must have been close to the end. Of note is the fact that Change No. 8 in the manual deletes 2 diodes in favour of a rectifier valve in the HT supply. That's not how things usually evolve. Originally sold by (
hp) in Sweden; has their country label on.
3552A: Basically works. I need to check levels and so on. Reasonably right in frequency. Batteries fuckerized of course, but will hold a charge for several seconds. Has, judging from sticker residue, lived an interesting life; probably flew around the world with an Ericsson engineer or similar. Of course built in Scotland.