Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (1797–1871) | Piano Manufacturer

The first “proof” of Heinrich Engelhard (1797–1871) as piano manufacturer stems from 1836: In the weekly paper of the Gandersheim district, he offers a square piano made by him for sale. At about the same time, he offered two similar instruments as lottery wins. At the “First Trade Exhibition of Domestic Industrial Products in Brunswick” in 1839, he exhibited a grand piano as well as upright pianos: Although praised by the jury on the whole as “efficient work”, the unbalanced fullness of tone between bass and treble and the sluggishness of the instrument's mechanism were criticized. 

Apart from manufacturing new keyboard instruments, fixing older models as well as tuning were also among Steinweg’s activities in Seesen. The latter task was increasingly passed on to his oldest son Theodor (1825–1889), who, just like his siblings would, soon joined his father’s workshop.