Feurich

The Feurich piano company was founded in 1851 in Leipzig, Germany, by Julius Gustav Feurich and has been family operated for five generations becoming renowned for the quality of its pianos. Today Feurich is owned by the Austrian piano manufacturer Wendl & Lung, and the bulk of manufacturing is carried out in China.[1]

History
J. Feurich piano (Museum of History, Ulan-Ude)

Artisanal piano making has a long tradition in Saxony. The city of Leipzig was, along with Paris, London, and Vienna, one of the pillars of European musical culture and music capital of the German Empire. 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.[2]

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 to the court of Austria-Hungary.[3]

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 and the factory was destroyed. It then had the further misfortune to be in East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain, during Germany's partition which caused exports to go to nearly zero. The factory was re-located to the outskirts of Gunzenhausen (West Germany) in 1959.[2]

In 2011 Feurich was sold to Wendl & Lung, a similar traditional piano manufacturer based in Vienna, Austria. Wendl & Lung pick up Feurich pianos again, based on the same constructions as before. Wendl & Lung models were also renamed as Feurich.[4]

Today, Feurich grand pianos and upright pianos are produced at Hailun Piano Company factory in Ningbo, China with the exception of the upright piano 123 – Vienna made in Vienna, Austria.[5][6]

Current Grand Piano Models
Model[7] Length Weight
162 – Dynamic I 162 cm 322 kg
179 – Dynamic II 179 cm 350 kg
218 – Concert I 218 cm 390 kg

Current Upright Piano Models
Model[7][8] Height Weight
115 – Premiere 115 cm 212 kg
122 – Universal 122 cm 220 kg
125 – Design 125 cm 220 kg
133 – Concert 133 cm 270 kg
123 – Vienna 123 cm 250 kg

References
  1. "Facing the music: how China is buying Germany's piano industry". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
  2. http://www.feurich.com/history/
  3. Handbuch des Allerhöchsten Hofes und des Hofstaates Seiner K. und K. Apostolischen Majestät., Vienna: K.k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1917, p. 519
  4. "Feurich". Sussex Pianos. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  5. "FEURICH Ningbo". FEURICH. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  6. "FEURICH Vienna". FEURICH. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  7. "Classic Pianos". FEURICH. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  8. "Vienna Pianos". FEURICH. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
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