Feurich piano and grand piano production
| FEURICH PIANOFORTE, Wendl & Lung GmbH | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Company with limited liability |
| founding | 1851 |
| Seat | Kaiserstr. 10, 1070 Vienna, Austria |
| Website | www.feurich.com |
Feurich pianos have been around in Leipzig , Saxony , since 1851 , where they were produced until 1948. Today the instruments of the Feurich brand are manufactured in the piano factory Hailun in China and since 2016 in the 6th district of Vienna and sold by Feurich Pianoforte, Wendl & Lung GmbH in the 7th district of Vienna.
The mark
Feurich is a family of piano manufacturers and piano brand with historical roots in Leipzig.
The founding great-grandson, Julius Feurich in Gunzenhausen, has not been involved in the Feurich trademark rights or in the production of Feurich instruments since the beginning of 2012.
Company history
Along with Paris, London and Vienna, Leipzig was one of the most important cities in European musical culture. Here in 1851 Julius Gustav Feurich (1821–1900) founded the Feurich piano factory .
By 1860 over 400 instruments had already been manufactured and sold. In the years that followed, larger and more modern factory buildings and ever larger quantities. By the turn of the century, almost 14,000 pianinos and grand pianos had been made. In addition to Feurich, the piano manufacturers Blüthner , Schimmel , Gebr. Zimmermann , Hupfeld and related industries were located in Leipzig . Julius Gustav Feurich and Hermann Heinrich Feurich received the royal title of Saxon purveyor to the court in the Kingdom of Saxony .
The years of reproductive instruments followed . Feurich worked with many very successful companies in this trade. He had a close friendship with Hugo Popper , a manufacturer of mechanical musical instruments. The self-play systems Welte-Mignon from M. Welte & Sons , Phonola from Hupfeld, but also Duca from Phillips, were installed.
The First World War brought severe setbacks, so instead of pianos, packaging containers for various war goods were increasingly being made. By 1919 over 34,000 pianinos and grand pianos had been built.
Between the wars
During the period of inflation , when people immediately exchanged money for real assets, production was in full swing; later, during the Great Depression, when people had to spend their money on essentials, production fell to a fraction of that. Feurich also produced housings for radio sets during this time.
In the Second World War, the production of "war-essential items" - packaging boxes for optical devices and flak headlights - had to be switched over again. In 1943 the factory building was bombed, the production facilities, all historical exhibits, other documents and models for the construction were lost. The production in the harmonium factory Theodor Mannborg could be continued temporarily .
post war period
After the war, repairs were initially carried out, and new instruments did not leave the factory until 1950. Julius Feurich jun. fled to West Germany in 1951, where he was accepted by the Euterpe piano factory in Middle Franconia, of which he became a partner. Feurich pianos were produced there. Government agencies of the GDR made Julius Feurich senior, who had the company management in Leipzig, difficulties in continuing operations in Langlau . In 1958 he was advised to nationalize the company. The members of the Feurich family who had remained in the GDR then also fled to the West. In 1959 the company Julius Feurich Pianofortefabrik GmbH was re-established in the west.
Todays situation
With the advent of the Japanese piano factories Yamaha and Kawai , it became increasingly difficult for German manufacturers to keep up the numbers. In 1991 the Euterpe company - and thus part of Feurich - was taken over by the Bechstein Group . The instruments were initially produced in Berlin. The managing director of Feurich, Julius Matthias Feurich, was not happy that the company name of the Feurich company should only play a subordinate role, so in 1993 he bought the Feurich shares belonging to the Bechstein company from the Bechstein group.
In 1994 Feurich exhibited again at its own stand at the Frankfurt Music Fair after a three-year break . These instruments were initially manufactured at Rönisch in Leipzig until the company's own building in Gunzenhausen near Nuremberg was completed, where from 1999 to 2009 all Feurich pianos and grand pianos were handcrafted by qualified piano makers.
By 1998 the Feurich company had produced 76,210 instruments. After that, mainly two piano models - sizes 118 cm and 123 cm - as well as two grand piano models - sizes 172 cm and 227 cm - were produced in small numbers.
In 2010 and 2011 there was a cooperation between the Viennese company Wendl & Lung and Feurich Klavier- und Flügelfabrikation GmbH. The aim was to expand the portfolio: On the one hand, a low-priced segment should be served by products from inexpensive Chinese production, while at the same time handmade pianos and grand pianos from Gunzenhausen's production should continue to be offered.
Due to the economic development of production in Gunzenhausen, it was decided at the end of 2011 to end the cooperation from January 1, 2012. In 2010, the Viennese company took over the majority stake in Feurich and the worldwide trademark rights. In 2012 the company was completely taken over. Feurich's production sites are now the Hailun factory in Ningbo and Vienna .
Julius Feurich remained as managing director of JF Pianofortemanufaktur GmbH, which is not associated with Feurich Klavier- und Flügelfabrikation GmbH and from then on sold its products under the “JF” brand.
Technical innovation
In 1985 the development of a new way of influencing the sound with a fourth pedal, called the Pédale Harmonique , began. When the pedal is depressed, all dampers are lifted off. The half-stepped pedal lets the dampers of the played and released keys fall back; a kind of inversion of the sostenuto pedal. In 2006 a prototype was exhibited at the Frankfurt Music Fair. Pierre Boulez was positive about the innovation.
Feurich production and sales books
The Feurich production and sales books are preserved in the Saxon State Archives, Leipzig State Archives. These provide numerous valuable details about the history and production of this manufacturer.
Piano and grand piano models
The following upright and grand piano models are produced:
Chinese-made pianos:
- Mod. 115 Premiere
- Mod. 122 Universal
- Mod. 125 design
- Mod. 133 Concert
Pianos from Austrian production:
- Mod. 123 Vienna
Chinese-made grand piano:
- Mod. 162 Dynamic I.
- Mod. 179 Dynamic II
- Mod. 218 Concert
literature
- Julius Feurich: History of the Julius Feurich Pianofortefabrik, founded in 1851. Staccato-Verlag, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-932976-00-2 .
- Ingrid Haslinger: Customer - Kaiser. The story of the former k. u. k. Purveyors to the court. Schroll, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-85202-129-4 .
- Editing and publishing of the court purveyors address book: Address book of court purveyors in the Kingdom of Saxony. Dresden-N., Edition from 1905.
Web links
- Website Feurich Vienna
- Feurich production and sales books , website Sächsisches Staatsarchiv, Staatsarchiv Leipzig
- Feurich deliveries to Welte, Hupfeld, Philipps and Popper , website of FaszinationPianola
Individual evidence
- ↑ Address book of the purveyors to the court in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1905.
- ↑ Horst Peter Wickel: It doesn't work without China. In: Welt am Sonntag. April 10, 2011, p. 15.
- ↑ Company history on the Feurich website .
- ↑ http://www.harmonicpianopedal.com/mecanisme_en.php
- ↑ http://www.feurich.com/de/pedale-harmonique/sound-samples/
- ↑ http://www.feurich.com/de/pedale-harmonique/references/