The Old World – Grotrian-Steinweg | 1865

The Old World – Grotrian-Steinweg | 1865

In 1865, Wilhelm Grotrian (1843-1917) and two other employees of the workshop, Heinrich Diedrich Wilhelm Schulz (1835-1878) and Gustav Adolph Helfferich (1840-1915), acquired shares in the company from Theodor Steinweg (1825-1889) for a total of 20,000 thalers. 560 instruments had been built by the company since the mid 1830ies. 

The three new owners introduced the label Th. Steinweg Nachf. for their work; which changed in 1869 into Grotrian, Helfferich, Schulz, Th. Steinweg Nachf.. Around 1900, Steinweg Nachf., Grotrian, Braunschweig came into use, and finally in 1928 the term Grotrian-Steinweg, as commonly used today. After Schulz had passed away in 1878 already, and Helfferich retired from professional life in 1886, Wilhelm Grotrian became sole owner of the company – until his sons Willi (1868–1931) and Kurt (1870–1929) became partners, helping the company to gain a new upswing in the slipstream of industrialization.