When the Berlin Wall was constructed in the 1960s Bechstein produced only 1,000 instruments annually due to the decline in Berlin’s population. Following this, Bechstein saw committed customers such as Leonard Bernstein, Jorge Bolet, Sergiu Celibidache and Wilhelm Kempff.
In 1953 Bechstein’s centennial was celebrated by the Berlin Philharmonic under William Backhaus and William Furtwangler.
Bechstein was then confiscated by the US administration. In 1945 the production facilities of Bechstein were destroyed by the bombardment of British and American forces during the Second World War, and thus the company moved to the American sector. In addition to this, the emigration of the Jews during the Holocaust meant that it lost a considerable amount of customers at this time Bechstein being a highly favourable instrument among the sophisticated tastes of the Jews. This caused many disagreements among Carl Bechstein’s heirs, and Bechstein suffered significantly. It produced the advanced Neo-Bechstein- the world’s first electric piano, together with the Nobel Prize laureate Walther Nernst and Siemens.įrom 1932 the Great Depression had a profound effect on the company, with a decrease in production and a drop in prices. Bechstein was still maintaining its innovative ideas and striving to broaden the techniques of piano making in 1930. They participated in the Barcelona World Exhibition, although only a small amount of customers were able to afford the instruments due to high customs duties. In 1901 the Bechstein Hall opened in Wigmore Street, London, and would later become “Wigmore Hall’ due to its expropriation in the Second World War.īechstein became a joint-stock company in 1923. Bechstein’s standard for the highest piano-making art. Furthermore, in 1892 the opening of the Bechstein Concert Hall in Berlin was celebrated with a music festival that featured Johannes Brahms and Anton Rubenstein, setting C. Bechstein concert grand in 1857.Ī new Bechstein branch opened in London in 1885 and the desire for the magnificent instrument was demonstrated when a Bechstein grand piano was supplied to Queen Victoria. Later to become the Berlin Philharmonic’s first conductor, Hans von Bulow became a keen supporter of the Bechstein piano after performing on a C. A man of innovative ideas, he wanted to create a piano that was designed for both energetic and vigorous playing as well as subtle and delicate. Bechstein was built in Berlin by Carl Bechstein. It was the developing technology of the industrial revolution that bought Bechstein into prominence in the nineteen century, and it was not to be succeeded by Steinway until the beginning of the Second World War.
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