The sell-out has sparked soul-searching among German piano lovers and cultural critics. Seiler is now Korean while Austria’s Bösendorfer is Japanese. It follows other prestigious names like Grotrian-Steinweg and Wilhelm Steinberg. Schimmel is not the first German brand to end up in Chinese hands. Many brands have gone under while others were only saved from drowning by foreign investors. However, these are discordant times in the piano world. Even Henry Steinway, founder of gold standard in US pianos, began his life and learning in Germany as Heinrich Steinweg.
Many of the biggest names in the piano world are German: Bechstein, Blüthner, Förster. Though the instrument was invented about 300 years ago in Italy, with crucial contributions by British, French and US technicians along the way, Germans left an indelible mark on the piano’s synthesis of high European culture and precision German engineering. Long before Germany was the home of the motor car, it was the home of the piano. But we will invest here to make sure ‘Made in Germany’ quality has a future.” “There are concerns, of course, about the deal and the future path of the company.
“Either we could stay independent, things would get ever more difficult and eventually we’d become another dead German brand – or we could decide for a path that has a future,” he said. It was a difficult choice for company president Hannes Schimmel-Vogel but, after several insolvencies, it was the sensible decision. But in January, the Schimmel family sold a 90 per cent stake to China’s state-owned Pearl River piano company.
Following the shock and awe in Germany, media comment around the world would gloat over how the chill winds of globalisation had finally blown down a proud giant of German engineering.īut in Braunschweig, 30 minutes down the road from Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters, the same scenario is playing out in another German-dominated sector.įor 131 years, Wilhelm Schimmel produced pianos here with a warm, golden tone. Imagine the reaction if Chinese investors moved in to snap up Volkswagen.
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