August Förster (Company)

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AUGUST FÖRSTER GmbH
legal form Company with limited liability
founding April 1, 1859
Seat Löbau , Germany
management Annekatrin Förster
Number of employees 40
Branch Musical instruments
Website www.august-foerster.de

The August Förster GmbH is a German piano manufacturer based in Löbau .

history

Lettering by August Förster (1960s)

The company was founded by the Saxon piano maker and carpenter Friedrich August Förster (1829–1897) on April 1, 1859 in Löbau. After his death, his son Caesar Förster took over the management. In 1900 he founded a branch in Georgswalde ( Bohemia ). This was expropriated and nationalized by the Czechoslovak government after the end of the Second World War in 1945 . During the communist rule, the Czech piano manufacturer Petrof continued to produce pianos under the brand name August Förster in this factory . During the GDR era in 1972, the factory in Löbau became part of the state -owned company VEB Flügel- und Pianobau Löbau . The traditional company has been owned by the Förster family again since 1991 and has been run by Annekatrin Förster since 2008.

Instruments

Piano by August Förster, Kgl. Hof Pianoforte Factory

Every year around 260 instruments are handcrafted by 40 employees. The portfolio (as of 2016) consists of pianinos in the three heights 116 cm, 125 cm and 134 cm as well as grand pianos in the four lengths 170 cm, 190 cm, 215 cm and 275 cm. Today, Förster soundboards are made of red spruce (Picea abies) , which comes from the South Tyrolean Fiemme Valley - from which the Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari obtained tonewood .

Special constructions

Historically interesting instruments from the 1920s and 1930s include an electro chord , several evolutionary stages of quarter-tone concert grand pianos and a quarter-tone piano.

Trivia

In the episode Murder by the Hand of Inspector Barnaby's 13th season , the character Sir Michael Fielding , played by James Fox , plays on an August Förster grand piano.

literature

Web links