Feurich (Feurich Pianoforte GmbH) is a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

company founded in 1851 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, by Julius Gustav Feurich, which has been family operated for five generations. The company is renowned for the quality of its pianos. Since 2011, Feurich has been owned by the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n piano manufacturer formerly known as

Wendl & Lung Wendl & Lung is a piano-manufacturing company based in Vienna, widely regarded for their product. The Wendl & Lung brand started in 1910 as a collaboration between Stefan Lung and Johann Wendl in Vienna, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich ...

, and the bulk of its manufacturing is carried out in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, except for the upright piano ''123 – Vienna'', which is manufactured in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. In 2021, Feurich - Wendl&Lung GmbH was renamed Feurich Pianoforte GmbH.

History

Artisanal piano making has a long tradition in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. The city of Leipzig was, along with

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, one of the pillars of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an musical culture and music capital of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. In addition to its great cultural heritage, the city of Leipzig was also an excellent trading venue with a lot of national contacts and a prosperous middle class. Here Julius Gustav Feurich founded the piano factory, Feurich, in 1851. By 1860, more than 400 instruments were manufactured and sold. Julius Feurich worked to expand his business and in the following years a larger and more modern factory was built allowing for ever greater quantities to be produced. By the turn of the twentieth century, nearly 14,000 uprights and grand pianos were manufactured. The owner Hermann Feurich was awarded an imperial and

royal warrant of appointment Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of ...

to the court of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. Feurich was one of the greatest German piano companies, but had the bad luck to be located in a major city that was bombed heavily during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the factory was destroyed. It then had the further misfortune to be in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

, during Germany's partition which caused exports to go to nearly zero. The factory was re-located to the outskirts of

Gunzenhausen Gunzenhausen (; bar, Gunzenhausn, link=no) is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Altmühl, northwest of Weißenburg in Bayern, and southwest of Nuremberg. Gunzenhausen is a nation ...

(

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

) in 1959. In 2011, Feurich was sold to

, similar to Feurich's and their successor firm a traditional piano manufacturer based in Vienna, Austria. Wendl & Lung picked up Feurich pianos again, based on the same constructions as before. Wendl & Lung models were also renamed as Feurich. Today, Feurich grand pianos and upright pianos are produced at Hailun Piano Company factory in

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

, China with the exception of the upright piano ''123 – Vienna'' made in Vienna, Austria.

Current Grand Piano Models

Current Upright Piano Models

References

External links

Feurich website
{{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Leipzig German brands Piano manufacturing companies of Germany Piano manufacturing companies of Austria Musical instrument manufacturing companies based in Vienna Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court Music in Leipzig