Carl Bechstein

Vocation

Notable

German manufacturer, was the maker of C. Bechstein pianos and the founder of C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik. Bechstein studied and worked in France and England as a piano craftsman, before he became an individual piano maker. His first pianos were made for other companies. From 1844 to 1848 he worked in Dresden for a local piano maker, then moved to Berlin and worked at Klavierfabrik Perau. In 1849 he worked as a hired contractor for piano makers in Paris. Back in Berlin he worked again for Klavierfabrik Perau in 1852-53. C. Bechstein piano factory was founded on 1 October 1853 by Carl Bechstein in Berlin,Germany. Carl Bechstein set out to manufacture a piano able to withstand the great demands imposed on the instrument by the virtuosi of the time, such as Franz Liszt. By 1870, with the endorsements by Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow, Bechstein pianos became a staple at many concert halls, as well as in private mansions. In 1880 the second piano factory was opened in Berlin, and the third factory was opened in 1897 in Berlin Kreuzberg. The years from the 1870s through 1914 brought Bechstein their most dramatic increase in sales. Bechstein was the official piano maker for the csars of Russia, the royal families of England, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark, and other royalty and aristocracy. Bechstein was the official piano maker for the tsars of Russia, the royal families of Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Denmark, and other royalty and aristocracy. Carl Bechstein died in Berlin on 6 March 1900. Link to Wikipedia biography