Ludwig Hupfeld

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Pianoforte factory Ludwig Hupfeld around 1911 in Böhlitz-Ehrenberg

Ludwig Hupfeld (born November 26, 1864 in Maberzell , † October 8, 1949 in Leipzig ) was a German musical instrument maker and entrepreneur .

Live and act

Phonola from Ludwig Hupfeld AG from 1900 (at Voigtsberg Castle in Oelsnitz / Vogtl. )

Ludwig Hupfeld attended the Royal High School in Fulda and completed a commercial training in Cologne . In 1892 he acquired the Leipzig music trading company JM Grob & Co. , which was based in Leipzig- Eutritzsch and, in addition to trading in music, also manufactured mechanical instruments.

After the takeover, the company was changed to Hupfeld Musikinstrumentenwerke . Since the conversion into a stock corporation in 1904, the company was called Ludwig Hupfeld AG . When the company moved in 1911, an imposing factory was built in the Böhlitz-Ehrenberg district of Leipzig . Over the years, Hupfeld bought several piano manufacturers, including the Carl Rönisch Hof piano factory in 1918 . After the merger with the Leipzig company Zimmermann in 1925 , Hupfeld was an industry leader in Europe. For his successes he was given the honorary title of Commercial Councilor. Ludwig Hupfeld AG became the largest manufacturer of mechanical musical works in Europe in the 1920s.

Hupfeld Phonoliszt Violina, Technical Museum Vienna.

One of the best-known products since 1902 has been the self-playing Phonola piano in competition with the American pianola . Hupfeld had rather modest success with the DEA reproduction piano presented in 1908 , the role of which the Triphonola later took on much more successfully.

Ludwig Hupfeld family burial site in Leipzig's southern cemetery

The so-called Hupfeld Phonoliszt violina , which was built around 3500 times by 1930, was very successful . The basis was a device invented in 1907 to automate violin playing. Three violins each with only one active string were painted over a round arch. With the help of a bellows these are pressed against the arch; the tones are also picked up by bellows-controlled "fingers". Both playing the violin and the piano are controlled by means of a perforated tape.

Perhaps the most important contribution by Hupfeld is the so-called World Archive of Pianistic Art, i. H. the well over 10,000 piano roll titles from around 1904–1936 that were recorded or arranged by Hupfeld. It contains pieces of music and recordings that the entire piano literature of the time has received for posterity in this form.

After the Second World War , Ludwig Hupfeld AG was expropriated as an armaments manufacturer, since ammunition boxes and fuel tanks had been manufactured in the factory during the Second World War .

Ludwig Hupfeld was born together with his wife Elisabeth, geb. Beyer (1874–1953), buried in the Leipzig South Cemetery in a family crypt that has been preserved to this day.

To the further company history after the death of the founder

Hupfeld's company was renamed VEB Deutsche Pianounion in 1949 . This continued to produce pianos under the brand name Hupfeld . After the reunification , the company operated as Pianofabrik Leipzig GmbH & Co. KG . In the main factory in Ludwig-Hupfeld-Straße 16 in Böhlitz-Ehrenberg, named after the founder, he manufactured instruments under the brand names Rönisch and Hupfeld until 2009 . In 2009 the Pianofortefabrik Leipzig GmbH & Co. KG had to file for bankruptcy and was taken over by Julius Blüthner Pianoforte-Fabrik GmbH.

Hupfeld Tower in Leipzig Böhlitz-Ehrenberg

The only reference to the former production of pianos with the brand name Hupfeld is the Hupfeldcenter with its tower, which is usually referred to as the piano tower and is a landmark in the west of Leipzig and Böhlitz-Ehrenberg. Various companies have settled there; small bands found rehearsal rooms there, so the musical tradition of the place is continued.

Hupfeld business documents

In 2013, documents believed to be lost by Hupfeld were transferred to the Saxon State Archives , Leipzig State Archives. 20 running meters Annual reports, product descriptions and much more with lots of details about this company. These documents can be viewed as digital copies (see web links).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Company history of the piano maker Rönisch: 1900–1944. A global brand and its musical admirers .
  2. ↑ " The eighth wonder of the world " ( memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 16, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.siegfrieds-musikkabinett.de
  3. ↑ More details on the company's history since 1918 under the Lemma Rönisch .
personal data
SURNAME Hupfeld, Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German musical instrument maker and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Maberzell
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1949
Place of death Leipzig