Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway, is an American and German piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan, New York City, by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company’s growth led to the opening of a factory in Queens, New York City, and a factory in Hamburg, Germany. The factory in Queens supplies the Americas and the factory in Hamburg supplies the rest of the world. Steinway has been described as a prominent piano company, known for making pianos of high quality and for inventions within the area of piano development. Steinway has been granted 126 patents in piano making; the first in 1857. The company’s share of the high-end grand piano market consistently exceeds 80 percent. The company’s dominant position in the high-end piano market has been criticized, with some musicians and writers arguing that it has blocked innovation and led to a homogenization of the sound favored by pianists. read more…
Brunswick Palace (German: Braunschweiger Schloss or Braunschweiger Residenzschloss) on the Bohlweg in the centre of the city of Brunswick (German: Braunschweig), was the residence of the Brunswick dukes from 1753 to 8 November 1918. read more…
With round 245.000 inhabitants, Braunschweig is the biggest city in the area between Hanover and Berlin. It is the centre of the region, as much today as it has been in the past. Today’s attractive profile of the Lion City is due to its rich and proud history, its steady development as a dynamic place for business, trading, sciences and research as well as its extensive cultural activities. Braunschweig’s history is closely linked to the Guelph, Henry the Lion, and his son Otto IV. who was the first and only Guelph emperor. Places of interest like St. Blasii Cathedral or Dankwarderode Castle remind us even today of the powerful Guelph Duke who made Braunschweig his residence in the middle of the 12th century. His lion, in the form of a bronze statue, has stood on the Burgplatz for centuries as a reminder of his power and is still the heraldic sign of the city. read more…