J. Mayer & Co.

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J. Mayer & Co. was the name of a former piano factory in Munich from 1833 to around 1925.

Piano by J. Mayer & Co., around 1890
Company badge on wing, around 1870

history

Johann Mayer founded a piano factory in the center of Munich at Karlsplatz 3 in 1833 (differently in 1826). The piano factory founded by Aloys Biber (1804–1858) in August 1833 in Sonnenstrasse was probably right next to it and probably existed as a competitor until 1872. Biber was from 1846 royal Hofpianofortefabrikant , Mayer was allowed until 1918 as a purveyor his company as Royal Bavarian court-wing and Pianinofabrik or simply as Royal Bavarian Hofpianofabrik call. In 1845 Johann Mayer received a three-year Bavarian patent for a sound machine for all types of pianoforte to achieve a thoroughly uniform, powerful sonorous and extremely flexible tone . Around 1860, the royal Bavarian district official gazettes published a recommendation to teachers' seminars and other teaching institutes to purchase the peculiarly constructed pedal grand piano from the pianoforte manufacturer Johann Mayer in Munich, which instrument appears to be very suitable for practicing pedal playing .

Between 1880 and 1910, the company built numerous grand pianos , concert pianos and pianinos , which are still widely used and on the market , in numerous equipment and design variants in the respective contemporary style. So you can find examples in the Empire to Wilhelminian style, in white, brown, black and walnut color, some with rich decorations, gold inlays, candle holders, inlays, classicist carving and candle holders made of woods such as oak, mahogany and walnut, with ivory buttons are made. Later models around 1920 were kept a bit simpler in line with contemporary tastes.

Exhibitions and awards (selection)

  • 1835 Munich industrial exhibition: Honorable mention
  • 1883 International Exhibition for Colonies and Export in Amsterdam: 1 grand piano in oak and 2 pianinos
  • 1896 Nuremberg trade exhibition: Golden medal

Trivia

A pen drawing by Alexander Schmorell from 1942 that has survived shows his friend Lilo Ramdohr playing the piano on her J.Mayer grand piano (oak and walnut, 255 cm long) in her apartment in Neuhausen-Nymphenburg . This instrument is still in use today.

literature

  • Fürst-Ramdohr, Lilo: Friendships in the White Rose . Munich 1995 (p. 194), ISBN 3-931231-00-3
  • Henkle, Hubert: Lexicon of German piano makers , Bochinsky publishing house, Frankfurt / Main 2000
  • Allgemeine Zeitung , J. Cotta, Stuttgart a. Augsburg 1860, No. 45, pages 722–723, February 14, 1859, obituary for A. Biber.
  • Clinkscale, Martha Novak: Makers of the piano 1820-1860 , Volume 2, p. 249, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-198166-257

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Clinkscale, p. 249
  2. ↑ wiki.hammerfluegel entry Aloys Biber ( Memento from December 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Description of a grand piano from 1910 on a private sales page, FOR ILLUSTRATION )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.pianomovers.de
  4. ↑ Government Gazette for the Kingdom of Bavaria 1845
  5. ↑ Kreisamtsblatt Oberfranken, Repetitorium, Buchner Verlag, Bamberg 1861, p. 445
  6. ^ Photo of a piano around 1920 on a private sales page, FOR ILLUSTRATION
  7. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Münchner Industrie-Ausstellung 1835 - contribution to key wiki )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / wiki.hammerfluegel.net
  8. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Article about exhibition in Amsterdam 1883 on key wiki )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / wiki.hammerfluegel.net  
  9. ↑ Musikpädagogische Blatter: Zentralblatt fd entire musical teaching system, Volume 19, p. 263, Verlag W. Peiser, 1896.

Web links