But the "mouth organ" or "harp" as we know it today dates back only to 19th century Germany. In 1822 an inventor and musician from Berlin named Christian Bauschmann made an experimental instrument with fifteen reeds called the aura, designed mainly as a pitch pipe.

Which country invented harmonica?

The first form of the harmonica, known as the sheng, was invented in China in 3000 B.C. The Sheng was a free reed instrument with metal or bamboo reeds which used bamboo shoots to amplify the sound.

When was the modern harmonica invented?

Around 1820, free-reed designs began being created in Europe. Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann is often cited as the inventor of the harmonica in 1821, but other inventors developed similar instruments at the same time.