Ludwig Hupfeld (26 November 1864 – 8 October 1949) was a German musical instrument maker and industrialist.

Life and work

Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina Model B Music Cabinet

Hupfeld was born in Maberzell (now

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

), Germany. Hupfeld attended the Royal Grammar School in Fulda and undertook commercial training in Cologne. In 1892 he acquired the music trade company J. M. Grob & Co., based in Leipzig which was originally a music shop and manufacturer of mechanical instruments such as music boxes. After taking over the company, the name was changed to ''Hupfeld Musical Instrument Works''. When the company was converted to a

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

in 1904, the name of the company became ''Ludwig Hupfeld AG''. In 1911, the company moved to Leipzig, to a large factory in Böhlitz-Ehrenberg. Over the years, Hupfeld bought up several piano-manufacturers, including the Carl Rönisch company. In 1925 following a merger with the Zimmerman company, Ludwig Hupfeld AG led the industry in Europe. In the 1920s, the company was the largest European manufacturer of mechanical musical works. One of the most popular products since 1902 was the self-playing piano Phonola ''American'', the European counterpart of the pianola. Hupfield had some success with the 1908

reproducing piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...

''DEA'', which was later superseded by the more successful ''Triphonola''. The mechanical violin ''Violina'', an

orchestrion Orchestrion is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a music roll and less commonly book music. The sound is us ...

, despite an ingenious design, was seen as aesthetically unsatisfactory and therefore less successful. Nevertheless by 1930 some 3500 had been built. The instrument contained three violins which could be pressed against a circular bow by a bellows; just one string on each violin played, the note being determined by 'fingers' that were also controlled by bellows. The mechanism was controlled by punched paper rolls, in the same way as the piano section. 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 ...

, the company made ammunition boxes and fuel tanks in the factory. At the end of the war, as an ex-arms manufacturer, it was made a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

by the communist authorities of

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 ...

in 1949. The company was renamed ''VEB Deutsche Pianounion'' and continued to produce pianos under the brand name ''Hupfeld''. Hupfeld died in Leipzig on 8 October 1949, and was buried in the Leipzig South Cemetery in his family tomb, where he was joined in 1953 by his wife Elisabeth (née Beyer, born 1874).

References

Sources

Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau, vol 37, 1916-1917, p. 290 -292

External links

Hupfeld Phonoliszt Violina at the Speelklok museum
Wintergaten visits the Speelklok museum, Utrecht, where a guide explains the history and mechanism of Hupfeld's violin-playing orchestrion {{DEFAULTSORT:Hupfeld, Ludwig Businesspeople from Leipzig German musical instrument makers German company founders 19th-century German businesspeople 20th-century German businesspeople 1864 births 1949 deaths People from Fulda