Only eight instruments from the Tielke workshop still exist, all of them lavishly decorated. They are dated between 1676 and 1694.

Besides Tielke it is Hinrich Kopp who made a good number of bell citterns. Günther Hellwig has even called him the "inventor" of this type of instrument. However, this assumption is difficult to retain with the instruments by Tielke being earlier than those by Kopp.

It is interesting to note that bell cittern in the Hamburg style have also been made in Salzburg by Johann Paul Schorn. This raises the question of the connection between the two cities - hitherto with no answer.