Steinway & Sons, today Steinway musical of instrument, is a famous manufacturer of pianos and wings. The company was created by Henry E. Steinway 1853 in New York.

History

The family Steinway

The native German Henry E. Steinway was called originally Heinrich angel hard stone way (* 15 February 1797 in Wolfshagen in the resin as a son of a He was originally a furniture carpenter, but from interest busy he with the building of pianos and produced itself 1836 the first wing.

For economic reasons he emigrated with four of his sons 1851 into the USA. At first they worked in different piano factories, until they made themselves 1853 independent as exempt private companies. Fast Steinway with its American exempt private company Steinway & Sons success stopped itself E for the Henry anglisierten now. A further stone way son, C.F. Theodor stone way, transferred the paternal enterprise to Seesen. It resettled the enterprise a little later after With the admission of Friedrich Grotrian as business partners the enterprise a further mark one shifted, in neighbouring Braunschweig. Despite the spatial distance the family developed one moves correspondence, in order to exchange itself over many of the Steinway patents and techniques. The Heinrich (Henry Jr.) and Karl deceased in March 1865. When desired to the family Theodor gave stone way to braunschweiger company up and sold these for 20.000 Taler at three to his employee, William Grotrian, Adolf Helfferich and H.O.W. Schulz. Afterwards the instruments of this new company firmierten under: Grotrian, Helfferich, Schulz, Th. Stone way successor, later developed from it then braunschweiger enterprises the Grotrian Steinweg. Theodor stone way followed the family to New York where it 1865 arrived. Henry E. Steinway deceased on 07 February 1871 at the age of 74 years. Its oldest son, Theodore Steinway (Theodor stone way) as well as the two younger sons William and Albert ("† 1876) took over the line of the company. William was received in Steinway history as marketing genius. He was the inventor of the Steinway resounds, the Steinway Concert & kindist department as well as the Wegbereiter that Hamburg factory, which he opened together with its brother Theodor. Theodor however was a piano farmer and It developed many in the next years the Steinway of patents and succeeded to build with the desire an upright standing piano. Theodor deceased at the 1889 in Hamburg. William led the fate of the company still over many years and it understood it also the suitable successors in the family into the correct positions to lift. William deceased on 30 November 1896. Williams nephews Charles and Fred Steinway took over now the guidance, its cousin Henry Ziegler became director/conductor of the research department.

The company Steinway

The first Steinway wing was manufactured 1856. Opened in the year 1866 the famous Steinway resound in New York. A combination of concert hall and sales rooms, which turned out as fast, very advertising effective and successful was. A further Steinway resound in London should 1875 follow. The sound and the durable building method of Steinway instruments became generally accepted ever more strongly. Due to the large demand in the year 1880 a second factory in Hamburg was opened, in order to supply the European market and with the European competitors compete over there.

At the beginning of of 1900 turned out a new system for the reproduction of piano music as best seller. Steinway supplied manufacturers of mechanical installation systems for reproduction pianos in the following years, e.g. M. Welte & from Freiburg, who inserted the famous system Welte Mignon, as well as the Aeolian company, who had developed the duo kind system, with pianos and wings.

In the year 1903 the 100.000ste instrument was finished, which went as gift to the American people and is located in the white house. The wing with the serial number 100,000 was replaced to 1939 by the instrument with the serial number 300,000, which stands until today likewise in the white house. So-called kind Case Pianos became a further business field of Steinway. The art instruments were manufactured for many famous families. Also artists and architects perpetuated themselves in housings of Steinway & Sons wings and pianos.

During the Second World War in the work in New York transport gliders from wood were built, in order to use these in the war in Europe. In addition still another a special was manufactured piano unit, which could be thrown off Victory vertical, a small Piano, which packs together with the stool in a crate, from the airplane, in order to supply the GI's with music. The work in Hamburg was shut down due to the American owners actually, built 1941-1944 there only approx. 100 instruments per year, which became converted to Gewehrkolben and coffins. During the war final that was met Hamburg works by bombs and damaged heavily. The production of instruments was taken up to Hamburg only again 1948.

In Hamburg in the 60's far over 1000 wings in the year were manufactured and sold. The delivery time for a Steinway wing amounted to often starting from order more than one year. In the following years however investments neglected, what led to it that for the modern market needed manufacturing plants had become outdated and one on demand of the market not able was, to produce higher numbers of items. The company Steinway was so no longer longer "lucratively" enough. Thus the line of the company Steinway met the resolution this to sell. 1972 went the company into the possession of the American medium enterprise Columbia Broadcasting of system, Inc. - CBS over, to which e.g. also Fender guitars and Electro music belonged. 1985 sell the company to CBS to three American entrepreneurs, these created a new holding company, the Steinway musical Properties. 1988 were manufactured the "wing of the artists" with the number 500,000. In the special model the signatures of many hundred Steinway artists are engraved. In the year 1995 Steinway & Sons with Selmer, Inc. fused. to the largest music instrument manufacturer of the USA with the name Steinway musical of instrument, Inc. and seat in Boston. To this company today the following marks belong: Steinway & Sons, Boston Pianos, Essex, Selmer, Ludwig, King, Vincent brook, and many different. Since 1996 Steinway becomes musical of instrument, Inc. at the New Yorker stock exchange NYSE under LVB (Ludwig van Beethoven) led.

Present

Today play over 95% of all concert pianists on a Steinway wing. The Steinway model D-274 is located today in many concert halls of the world. For 150 years the company Steinway works intensively to equip with your manufacturing plants in New York and Hamburg world-wide concert podiums. Today Steinway maintains its leading position also by the fact that most famous pianists are taken as Steinway Artists "under contract "and many of these to arise only if an Steinway instrument is available.

Steinway annually produces about 3000 wings and 600 pianos - to 2005 world-wide altogether approximately 570,000 instruments were manufactured. The building of a Steinway wing lasts more than one year. From approximately 12,000 individual parts a wing in manual work is built up. Here those always resemble construction plans and materials used, nevertheless resembles no instrument the other one. They are characterised by an individual Klangcharakter.

Patents

A selection of the patents registered over 100:

• The Agraffeneinrichtung (1855), which increases the ruggedness of the framework against the course of the strings
• The construction of wings with kreuzsaitiger Mensur (1859), whose advantages of the main thing for in the extended bars and their shift from the edges are to be looked for the center of the resonance soil, whereby larger areas between the choirs of the strings are thus set to develop and larger resonance surfaces in motion
• The vibrating resonance soil bar with acoustic sound posts (1869), being based on the Tonleitung by staffs, and particularly applied with Pianinos and wings by smaller dimension
• The Ringsteg at the resonance soil (1869), whereby an up to then unequalled equality of the tone quality in the transition from the smooth is obtained to the strings
• The mechanism tube rack (1869)
• The duplex Scala (1872), which extends the overtone abundance in the Diskant substantially.
• The Doppelmensur (1872)
• The clay/tone attitude device (1875), the so-called Soustenuto pedal.
• The revised metal frame construction (1875)
• The keyboard framework set screw (1879)
• The wing Diskantglocke (1885), stabilizes the cast-iron plate in the Diskant.

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