Heinrich Steinweg

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Heinrich Steinweg
Heinrich Steinweg

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (born February 22, 1797 in Wolfshagen in the Harz Mountains ; † February 7, 1871 in New York ; also Heinrich Engelhardt Steinweg or Henry E. Steinway ) was a German piano maker and founder of Steinway & Sons .

Biography and company formation

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg was born on February 22nd, 1797 in Wolfshagen in the Harz Mountains as the son of the charcoal burner Heinrich Zacharias Steinweg; his mother Rosine Elisabeth née Bauerochse died in November 1810, his father in November 1811. At the age of 15 he began an apprenticeship as a carpenter . After graduating, he went to Goslar , where he worked as an organist and trained as an instrument maker .

Steinweg fought from 1814 in the war against Napoleon and his Grande Armée in the black crowd ; he left military service in 1822.

In Seesen , he received a special license from the Duke to set up a carpenter's business because of a fire that had previously occurred without the otherwise mandatory seven-year apprenticeship. He started making guitars , zithers and mandolins part-time . He then went to the construction of panel pianos , upright pianos and wings above. He gave his bride Juliane his first self-made square piano in 1825 for their wedding. In 1836 the first wing was built in an old laundry room that had been converted into a workshop.

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg and his wife Juliane had ten children:

  • CF Theodor Steinweg (1825–1889)
  • Dorothee (Doretta) Steinway (1828–1900), married Jacob Ziegler
  • Karl / Charles H. Steinway (1829–1865)
  • Heinrich / Henry Steinway Jr. (1831–1865) married Ernestine Henriette Millair (the widow married Charles Oakes in 2nd marriage)
  • Wilhelmina Steinway (1833–1875), married Theodor Vogel
  • Wilhelm / William Steinway (1835-1896)
  • Hermann Steinweg (1836-?), Was a passenger on the steamer Helena Sloman to New York City when he was 14 years old
  • Albert Steinway (1840–1877)
  • Anna Steinway (1842–1861)
  • Juliane Steinway (died as a baby)

Because of the unfavorable political and economic situation, Steinweg sold his Seesen property in 1850 and emigrated with the entire family, albeit without his eldest son Theodor, via Hamburg to New York City.

Theo stayed in Germany and built up his own music shop and piano manufacturing, first in the Minden area, then in Wolfenbüttel, where he made a partner with the piano maker Grotrian, and later in Braunschweig.

On May 28, 1850, the family emigrated to New York , where the men initially worked in several piano factories . The second son Karl (Charles) had already gone to New York a year earlier, in 1849, via Paris and London in order to avoid the suspected persecution for his 1848 revolutionary machinations, and explored piano manufacturing in the city of New York for the family.

Heinrich Steinweg, his sons Karl, Henry junior, and Wilhelm (William) initially worked as workers for about two and a half years in several New York piano manufacturers in order to get to know the New York building methods for table pianos and the sales practices.

In March 1853 in a period of stagnation and declining business, the father and his three grown sons, Karl (Charles), Heinrich made (Henry junior) and Wilhelm (William) with an oral agreement to Williams Birthday independently . The younger brother Albert was initially left out; he later became a partner. Even the wives and daughters, and the coming children-in-law (“In-Laws”) should all have nothing to say at Steinway & Sons. They could well hold and come into shares, but they could not become managers or directors. Their shares had to be administered by men who were called "Steinway". This was the tradition of German craftsmen that the father instilled in his sons. Women were not welcome at Steinway & Sons, they only worked as secretaries or made keyboards in times of war. The first woman to rise to the management was the secretary of the concert operations department C & A Concerts and Artists, who expertly represented her boss in the 1930s.

Anglicisation of the name: Steinway & Sons

Heinrich Steinweg Anglicized his name to Henry E. Steinway in 1854; the company was called Steinway and Sons ever since . The first workshop was at 85 Varick Street, but only lasted for a year. The Steinweg gentlemen bought the bankruptcy estate from Pirsson, one of their former employers, and from 1854 moved into several smaller and larger workshops in the south of Manhattan, which can no longer be localized, until 1860 - after the young company's enormous business success - outside the gates In the city of then 250,000 inhabitants, the large new factory was built at today's 4th Avenue at the corner of 52nd and 53rd Streets. At that time, William, who was in charge of the company books as a businessman, was already doing the honors at the opening. The illiterate father Heinrich was still very active in quality assurance in construction, but now withdrew more and more from the day-to-day business of piano construction for reasons of age.

Cast iron frame

The business quickly took off after winning first prize for its cross-string table pianos at the New York Industrial Exhibition in 1855 . The first grand piano was built in 1856, based on a model by Sébastien Érard , Paris, of what was then recognized as the best grand piano in the world , but already featured a decisive improvement, the one-piece cast plate as a strong frame against the string tension.

In quick succession, father Heinrich and son Henry Jr. the grand pianos became a technically unique product, refined using scientific methods, and soon overtook the competition from Chickering and Sons in Boston, and became the leader in bustling New York with around 35 piano manufacturers. In 1858 father and son produced the "Scaling", the design of the sound system of the first bass-crossed concert grand piano with a length of 250 cm, received a patent for this in the following year, and at the same time built the first "Parlor Grand", the salon grand with a length of 220 cm cm, which became the center of family and social life in the households of the upper class.

In 1864 the last grand piano was made, which was still strung according to the old fathers custom. The "System americaine", the Steinway system with bass crossover, one-piece cast plate and a sophisticated arrangement of the soundboard, with which son Henry jr. proved to be a genius, had established itself worldwide and was eagerly copied by competitors.

Bass crossover

The bass crossover in grand pianos, with the advantage of stimulating the soundboard in the middle of the grand piano tail with freer oscillation, is considered the decisive development of Henry Steinway Jr., which made him the father of the modern grand piano. It was made possible through intensive research and the use of modern New York metalworking in the surrounding foundries.

After constant pressure to exchange ideas with their son and brother Theodor, who had remained in Germany and who was trained as a technical engineer, the Steinway company also approached the construction of “uprights”; the upright pianos, which 40 years later also succeeded the table pianos, which were obsolete in Europe from around 1855, in the USA - with a considerable time lag. Theodor had always advocated that his father and brothers should deal with the production of smaller and cheaper pianos. The "Grand Company", the purely elegant wing construction that the US relatives imagined, did not correspond to Theodor's ideas.

The father Heinrich Engelhard remained friendly and indifferent, let the sons compete and argue with one another for progress, for his favor, and reserved the last word - in this respect completely old German and paternalistic.

In 1865 the young, ambitious company and the family suffered a double blow. The two technically shod New York sons, Henry junior, died on March 11, 1865 in New York, and Charles, while visiting his brother Theodor, on March 31, 1865 in Braunschweig, died within 20 days. The father and brother Wilhelm (William) had to ask Theodor for help - the father no longer had a technician to support him in New York and was already old.

Grotrian-Steinweg in Braunschweig and further development in New York

In 1865, Theodor Steinweg sold the Braunschweig company to Wilhelm Grotrian, the son of his short-term partner Grotrian, who died early, and two other employees, Helfferich and Schulz. It still exists today under the name Grotrian-Steinweg . Theo joined the New York business in the fall as a partner and head of technical development. Theo also brought employees with him to the USA. Arthur von Holwede, who later became the first director of the Hamburg factory from 1880, had become Theo's apprentice and then foreman. With his people and their piano building skills, Theo also brought several of his designs of different pianos with him to New York, which he then began to manufacture.

The main points of Theos further technical development of the grand pianos were the cast one-piece plate, which also covers the sound post ("Cupola"), experimental grand pianos from 1869, the tubular frame mechanics with the brass tubes from 1871, and the duplex scale between 1870 and 1870 1872, which he developed together with the physicist Hermann von Helmholtz in correspondence and with experiments on a concert grand that was brought to Berlin , and also an even smaller grand piano, the “Monitor Grand”, forerunner of today's A and B types - activities that are still the Father Heinrich Engelhard saw and was able to accompany.

In 1866, the company built its own concert hall with sales space for pianos on 14th Street in New York, Steinway Hall , at that time the largest concert hall in the city with up to 2500 seats. The young company took part in several other exhibitions with great success (London 1862, Paris 1867) and won prizes and great recognition. Son William started in 1870 the purchase of land on Manhattan island opposite Long Iceland and moved there to Klaviaturenbau. He also built his own new foundry together with brother Theo. These were the last events of a tremendous professional success, the emergence of which the now old Heinrich Engelhard could still see.

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg died in New York City, United States, on February 7, 1871. He was buried in the family vault in Greenwood Cemetery.

In 1872 William Steinway organized the huge US tour of the pianist Anton Rubinstein , which is considered to be the beginning of the " Steinway Artists " who are still effective today - the recognized pianists who, wherever possible, insist on performing with a Steinway concert grand.

The father no longer saw the company's greatest success, winning the piano building competition at the “ Centennial Exhibition ” to mark the centenary of the US constitution in Philadelphia in 1876 with the new “ Centennial D Concert Grand ” grand piano . With him, Heinrich Engelhard's company motto “to build the best piano possible” was fulfilled; to build the best possible piano.

Since then the Centennial D of December 1875 has been in effect, the design improved by Theo of the previous design by his father Heinrich, himself and his brother Henry Jr. developed instruments, as the forefather of all modern concert grand pianos. The first of the 424 Centennials was delivered to Hamburg late in 1896 and was lost there. The second Centennial D is in the University of San José in California and is ready to play. Around 45 centennials are still known today. Most of them are in the USA, five in Germany, one in Austria, one in Chile. The Centennial D is a transition type. During its construction period, the formerly "built" wing housings made of individual planks were converted to rim manufacture, which was used from 1878 on first for the smaller wing shapes, and from 1880 on for all wings made of thick, thick veneer strips has been. This technology, which was already known in furniture construction to increase strength and reduce rejects, was now also adopted by Theodor in wing construction and became the standard that was widely copied.

Wilhelm (also: William) Steinway , the fourth son, supported the poor in Seesen , the city where father Heinrich Engelhard had built his first piano, and donated the park in the east of the city, which is named after the piano-making family. In gratitude for this, the city fathers made him an honorary citizen in 1888.

Albert Steinweg and his mother Juliane Thiemer Steinweg died in New York in 1877.

In 1884, Theodor Steinweg built the Centennial successor, the largely unchanged D concert grand piano , from him he headed the C-227 grand as the successor to the Parlor Grand design of the two Henrys, and later moved to Braunschweig to head the European activities (Hamburg and London) and died there in 1889.

The only remaining Steinway founder was William, who has been the company's president since the incorporation in 1876; he died in 1896.

The longest surviving child of Heinrich Engelhard was daughter Dorothee (Doretta), she died in 1900.

The family members of the Steinway family, which is constantly growing in the USA, traditionally often have the names of Heinrich Engelhard and his daughters and sons. The first names Henry, Theodore, William, Albert and Charles appear again in almost every generation. Today there is a Heinrich Engelhard Steinway again in the fifth generation.

Afterlife

  • Henry E. Steinway is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn , New York.
  • A permanent exhibition in the Seesen municipal museum provides information about the Steinway family and the company. The focus of this exhibition is the first square piano No. 483 by Steinway & Sons built in the USA and a "Parlor Grand", a semi-concert grand piano from 1864, which was once delivered to Hamburg as an early export success.
  • The Wolfshagen Steinway Association was founded in 2011 in Wolfshagen im Harz, the birthplace of Heinrich E. Steinweg, which is dedicated to promoting, cultivating and preserving culture. In memory of Heinrich Steinweg, the association annually organizes concerts with music from different eras - from classical to jazz. The main venue is the festival hall in Wolfshagen. The focus of the concerts is an antique Steinway grand piano from 1907, which was purchased by Wolfshäger Steinway eV for the festival on site.
  • Together with the tourist association Wolfshagen im Harz e. V., the association also organizes the traditional commemorative concert every two years in February in honor of the world-famous piano maker.
  • The Steinway Trail is a 14.3 kilometer long cultural-historical hiking trail between Wolfshagen in the Harz Mountains and Seesen, reminiscent of the piano maker.

literature

sources

  1. ^ A b Paul Zimmermann:  Steinweg, Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 36, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1893, pp. 22-25.
  2. ^ Susan Goldenberg, Steinway - From Glory to Controversy - The Family, the Business, The Piano , Mosaic Press, Oakvillen Ontario, CDN, 1996, ISBN 0-88962-607-3
  3. ↑ Wolf Haeger Steinway eV - Wolf Haeger Steinway Club - Official Website. Retrieved on May 3, 2018 (German).
  4. ↑ Wolf Haeger Steinway eV - Wolf Haeger Steinway Club - Official Website. Retrieved on May 3, 2018 (German).

Movies

  • Henry Steinway - The Birth of a Legend. Germany / USA, 2009 (52 min.) Staged documentation by Christoph Weinert. First broadcast: February 16, 2010 on ARTE

Web links

Commons : Hinrich Steinweg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Steinweg, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steinweg, Heinrich Engelhard; Steinweg, Heinrich Engelhart; Steinweg, Heinrich Engelhardt; Steinway, Henry E.
SHORT DESCRIPTION German-American piano maker
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1797
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolfshagen in the Harz Mountains
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1871
Place of death new York