Instrument Craftsman, b. Winona, Minnesota; Klingler was a craftsman trained in repairing stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello and bass viol). He began playing instruments at the age of eight at country and public dances with his father, until he became a carpenter at the age of fifteen. He then began work as a mill and woodwork factory operator, training himself as an architect from a set of books and obtaining his license to practice in the State of Wisconsin in 1932. Klingler opened his own architectural firm, E.F. Klinger & Associates, Inc., but continued to repair stringed instruments out of his basement shop at his home at 715 Third Avenue, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. In 1925, Klingler made his own violin, but decided there was more value in restoring instruments. He was also an avid instrument collector and acquired a collection of over 300 instruments, valued at over $50,000 in 1965. 
 

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[Source: Whyte, Bertha K. Craftsmen of Wisconsin. Racine, Wisconsin: Western Company, Inc., 1971.]