Pioneering Spirit
The piano manufacturer GROTRIAN is family-owned and currently in the fifth and sixth generations. Across the years one thing has never changed: the love for music. This has always been and still remains the motivation even for unusual steps. In 1830 Friedrich Grotrian left Germany to establish a music business in Moskva. The town prospered and attracted many musicians like Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt and A. Rubinstein. Friedrich Grotrian maintained close relationships with many pianists and got to know their preferences. He started to build pianos. Pianos, which were loved by pianists.
Partnership
When Friedrich Grotrian returned to his home country, he became partner of a piano factory which was founded in 1835.
In 1865 the Grotrian family took over the remaining shares of the company and from this time the Grotrian family is the only owner of the company until today. Some years later the company was taken over by Wilhelm Grotrian, who phrased the important motto for Grotrian in telling his sons: Lads, build good pianos and the rest willtake care of itself.
Inspirations
In the end of the 19th century Wilhelm Grotrian sent his sons Kurt and Willi on an international journey to gain experience in piano building. They combined their newly acquired knowledge with the craftsmanship inherent in Germany. Along with other important inventions, some that continue to be important for the piano trade as a whole to this day, the combination of knowledge and craftsmanship led to the Grotrian star- shaped back-frame and the popular upright piano.
Continuity
The generations that followed continued to develop revolutionary innovations for the piano. The Grotrian piano factory was completely destroyed in the Second World War, but thanks to the persevering energy and courage of Helmut and Erwin Grotrian, the sons of Kurt Grotrian, the production was restored very soon after the war.
Facing the Future
Knut Grotrian (5th generation) constructed a new factory in 1974, which continues to be the place of production today it is located in “Grotrian Street” in Braunschweig. The basis of our tradition remains unchanged: a unique tone and love for music.
Between 2000 and 2016, the piano maker and businessman, Burkhard Stein, headed the family business, Grotrian, as managing director. His grandfather and father were piano builders so piano manufacturing was something he was already endowed with as a newborn in his cradle. For the first time in 1984, he started working for Grotrian, undergoing training as a piano builder at the time. During the years he was responsible for the long-established company, he successfully expanded the sales and distribution of Grotrian instruments in Asia and the USA. In addition, among other things, he internationalized the Grotrian Piano Competition which was established in 1954.
With economic effect from April 01, 2015, the Grotrian Company, which was founded in 1835, had a new shareholder, the Parsons Music Group, a family-run business with headquarters in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1986. Worldwide, the Parsons Music Group employs approximately 5,000 people and operates approximately 100 of its own music stores in China and Hong Kong alone and cooperates with more than 500 other music stores in China. Furthermore, the Parsons Music Group maintains its own manufacturing facilities for pianos, piano components, guitars and other musical instruments, as well as a sawmill and a sawmill and an iron foundry in China. With this economically powerful shareholder, the Grotrian Company has a secure foundation to master the challenges of the future. The goal is to maintain and further develop the reputation of the brand that the Grotrian has built up over the course of their 180-year company history. At its location in Braunschweig, highly qualified and experienced members of staff continue to manufacture Grotrian grand and upright pianos by hand at the highest level of quality.