Edwin Bechstein

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Edwin Bechstein (born February 11, 1859 in Berlin ; † September 15, 1934 in Berchtesgaden ) was a piano producer and supporter of Adolf Hitler .

Autograph of the piano manufacturer Edwin Bechstein

Live and act

Piano producer

Together with his younger brothers Carl and Johannes , Edwin Bechstein took over the pianoforte factory after the death of his father Carl Bechstein in 1900 . Edwin led the instrument making, while Carl led the business. Johannes died in 1906.

After a dispute with his brother, Edwin Bechstein had his share in the company paid out in 1916 and left the company. When the factory was converted into a stock corporation in 1923, Edwin Bechstein and his wife Helene , who had attracted attention through anti-Semitic comments, bought their way back into the company.

Support of Hitler

Like his wife, Bechstein was an admirer of Adolf Hitler . During his imprisonment in Landsberg, he visited him a total of six times. After his release from prison, Hitler bought a car from Benz & Cie. He paid for this vehicle from a loan that Edwin Bechstein not only guaranteed but also repaid.

At the end of the Weimar Republic , Bechstein's Berlin apartment also served conspiratorial purposes. On January 29, 1933, one day before the " seizure of power " , Hitler met there with Colonel General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord , the chief of the army command.

Death and grave

After Bechstein died in Berchtesgaden on September 15, 1934, the body was transferred to Berlin, where Bechstein was given a state funeral on September 20 in the presence of Hitler and leading NSDAP politicians , such as Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick and Max Amann , at Sophienfriedhof II in Berlin-Mitte was buried. The tomb has not been preserved.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 36.
  2. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin tombs . Haude & Spener, Berlin 2006. p. 47.
personal data
SURNAME Bechstein, Edwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German piano producer
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1934
Place of death Berchtesgaden