Leitner & Kraus is a German clarinet manufacturer based in Neustadt an der Aisch, Bavaria.^[1][2]

The company was founded in 1993 by Josef Leitner and Wolfgang Kraus. In 2001 the company expanded its production and moved to new facilities. As of 2019, Leitner & Kraus employs 15 people.^[3]

Clarinets of different moods are produced with the German and the French fingering system as well as those with the Reform Boehm system.^[4] With German system (Oehler) 10 models in Bb and A,^[5] of which one is a Viennese model with further bore,^[6] three models in C, and four in D and high-Es are offered. The lower section is covered by three basset horns in F^[3] and three long bass clarinets ranging to low-C. With the French system (Boehm) the company manufactures four models in Bb and A, with the reform Boehm system six models in Bb and A, a Bassett clarinet in Bb and A and three models in C, D and Es, as well as a basset horn in F.^[3] The instruments are made to order, using grenadilla wood, on special request also from cocobolo.

For the German models the company developed a new patented A-Bb-Enhancement.^[7] For the Bb-Clarinet with German System, Model 250, the company received the 2016 German Musical Instrument Award.^[8]

While some clarinet makers dispense with the production of mouthpieces, Leitner & Kraus devotes special attention to this important part^[9] and offers a configurator for the right choice of mouthpiece on its website. There are mouthpieces for German and French clarinets, with different track lengths and web openings, made of “Zelltec”, a composite material, and of "cast wood" (linea verde), a material developed by the company.^[3]

The instruments of Leitner & Kraus are mainly sold in Germany. 20 to 25% of the production is spread over several European countries, the US and China.^[3]