Estonia (company)
| Estonia Klaverivabrik AS | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1893 |
| Seat | Tallinn , Estonia |
| management | Indrek Laul |
| Number of employees | about 100 |
| Branch | Musical instrument making |
| Website | http://www.estoniapiano.com |
Estonia is a grand piano factory based in Tallinn .
history
The history of piano making in Estonia began in 1779 when the Bremen piano and instrument maker Johann Friedrich Gräbner (1753–1812) emigrated to Tallinn and opened a workshop there. He was followed by other Estonian and German Baltic piano makers.
In 1922, the Baltic German entrepreneur Ernst Ihse (1872–1964) (Estonian Ernst Hiis) founded the forerunner of today's Estonia piano factory , the "Astron AG" in Dorpat . He had previously learned piano making in Germany with Rathke , Steinway and Blüthner , among others . His pianos were called Ihse after his name or, from 1914, when the war broke out, only Hiis (Estonian) . In 1903 he founded his own company called EA Ihse. From 1907 he also took on orders from the Zimmermann company. On July 1, 1915, Hiis sold the machines in his factory to the larger piano factory of the RA Diederich brothers in Saint Petersburg and became the technical director of this company, where he remained until 1918. At the end of 1918, Hiis returned to Estonia. Between 1919 and 1922 he worked in the Moor piano factory in Tartu. In 1923 Hiis visited Paris and became familiar with the Erard pianos - the oldest piano factory in France. From 1923 to 1926 he was the technical director of the Astron piano factory. In 1927 he reopened his own workshop to build pianos and baby grand pianos.
With the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the company was expropriated . From 1950 on, under the name Estonia, it was a state-owned company and one of the most outstanding piano manufacturers in the Soviet Union. Smaller Estonian piano factories were attached to it. Estonia offered two models of concert grand pianos (190 cm and 273 cm) for sale within the Soviet Union.
When Estonian independence was regained, the company was privatized in 1993. In 1995 it was bought by the Estonian pianist Dr. Indrek Laul, who studied piano in America. Laul converted it into a modern European company and continuously improved the quality of the grand pianos. In 2003 a new factory site was opened in Tallinn .
Estonia now handcrafts around 400 grand pianos per year. The sound of an Estonia grand piano is described as "warm, rich, deep and romantic". The company currently offers three models: L168 studio grand (length: 168 cm), L190 salon grand (190 cm) and L274 concert grand (274 cm). A grand piano of the “B” size, which is very popular with pianists, with a length of approx. 215 cm (as of mid-2011) is about to be launched.
The grand piano's casing is made of birch , the pegs are made of spruce and the soundboard is made of Siberian spruce . Soundpost , pegs , strings and hammers come from Germany .
The main market for Estonia wings is currently the United States with over 90% .
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Klaverite tootmine Eestis läbi ajaloo ( Memento from February 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 59 ° 26 '52.9 " N , 24 ° 43' 47.5" E