It has been said about upright pianos that they turn into “1200-pound heirloom paperweights”, unless they are kept in tune and are played regularly. Otherwise they are simply large, heavy, awkwardly shaped pieces of furniture, not good as bookcases, nor any good as seating, often a home for mice, and sounding worse than an out-of-tune violin because they are also LOUD. 

I think of the piano that I inherited as a very nicely crafted piece of furniture and also my favourite musical instrument. Everyone who plays an instrument has their favourite one, whether it is something they paid a lot of money for, or inherited, or have grown accustomed to, or have had tuned to their most precise specifications. I have a Casio Celviano electric piano, and a keyboard. I can do without those, but life without my old upright piano is unthinkable. So, I eventually set out to find out more about it.

Origins

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My piano, inherited from my grandmother who was a music teacher, is inscribed below its music rack under the fall board – so you see it when it is open and the music rack is up: “Made Specially for Adolph Mosenthal & Co. Port Elizabeth by F. Geissler”.

This was the starting point for my search to find out its origins and age; F. Geissler, the maker (sometimes also spelled Geißler), and Adolph Mosenthal & Co, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the importer and seller.

I learned to play piano from when I was about 6 years old. My grandmother who taught piano, and my father, who had progressed quite far with his violin exams, were both my teachers. When my father was born in 1934, the piano had already in his family’s home for many years. By the time I started playing it, it stood in the lounge of my grandmother’s house in the small farming town of Villiersdorp, South Africa. Due to the wood floors and attic above, the noise that the piano students and I made on it must have been amplified to the point of being deafening.

On this piano I learned to play my first piece of music by ear: Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Minuet in G”, skipping “Mary had a little lamb” and “Frere Jacques” altogether. I played by ear, and still do, because I stubbornly refused to learn to read notation. My grandmother eventually gave up on me, specifically when I refused to play the soppy hymns that she and her friends liked, for instance “I come to the garden alone” (written by C. Austin Miles in 1913). I hated that song.

I have spent literally years sitting at this piano. I know every whorl and line in the grain of its wood, I can tell which key my finger is on by the feel of it, and the pedals have been worn smooth by my feet.

How old is it?

The question was, how old is it actually? The F. Geissler firm used a trademark consisting of a unicorn and a crescent moon. No complete records of the serial numbers of the pianos, with the trademark, exist. However, one documented Geissler piano is numbered “8985” inside, and it is marked with the dates when it was tuned from 1911 onwards. My piano is marked “4955” which suggests its manufacture pre-dates 1911, which would be plausible since that coincides with the time that my grandmother was a young piano teacher in the early 1900s.

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F. Geissler, piano maker

Geissler pianos were made in Zeitz, Germany, an area with many musical instrument manufacturers. The company was in business from 1878 to 1931 and produced about 750 instruments per year by the turn of the 20th century. They were not in the top tier of German piano makers – and their fame was probably by association. They made useful, handsome commercial pianos for the home.

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German piano manufacturing

Germany, in particular the city of Zeitz, was a prolific manufacturer and exporter of upright pianos. Germany began the manufacture of upright pianos in preference to the square piano in about 1835, and discarded the square piano type for good about 1860. During this period the Germans, true to their national character, built much stronger, heavier uprights, than either the French or English, using three strings for each note and applying iron plates for hitch-pins, also iron braces between these plates and the wrest plank. The wrest plank of a piano is the thick hardwood plank, generally laminated in layers, which holds the wrest pins, or tuning pins, in place.

The uprights of those days had greater volume than other instruments of the time. The export market for German pianos had its start at that time, because of the superior quality of tone and great durability of the instruments. However, around 1800, American makers of upright pianos began to adopt the now perfected system of an overstrung scale and a full iron frame, and thereby introduced an instrument which was acceptable, although perceived to be inferior in tone and touch to the best square pianos.

After 1860, German manufacturers were quick to adopt the overstrung scale and iron frame for their upright pianos, which in turn forced English manufacturers to do likewise. German manufacturers, with their superior instruments, captured a lot of foreign trade that had formerly been monopolized by England, while France, Italy and Spain came in last in this race for market dominance. By the time that the American square piano became extinct around 1880, the “American System” had been universally adopted for upright pianos. However, the workmanlike upright piano of today might is still;

“…a remarkable bundle of inventions. In its entirety it is an open defiance of all the laws of acoustics and of proper mechanical construction.”

“Pianos and their Makers, a comprehensive history of the development of the piano from the monochord to the concert grand player piano“, by Alfred Dolge, Covina Publishing Company, Covina, California, USA, 1911

Alfred Dolge, quoted above, lists F. Geissler as one of the manufacturers in Zeitz.

Zeitz, the town where pianos were made

Zeitz, the location of the F. Geissler firm, is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. The Wikipedia page of Zeitz still mentions pianos as one of the highlights of the city’s history:

“In 1904 began the rapid expansion in Zeitz an electric power supply on the basis of a first 220/440 volt three-wire DC network, which led to a modernization of the drives in industry and crafts and resulted in many start-ups. […] The Zeitz piano industry, with sometimes 30 different factories, had a great reputation in Germany.”

The Wikipedia page of Zeitz (IN GERMAN)

The F. Geissler piano making company

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The F. Geissler company, in business for more than 50 years, did not reach the technical or artistic heights of Hölling & Spangenberg, or Hupfer, in Zeitz, or the famous German makers like Steinway (German-American, originally Steinweg), Bechstein, Bluthner or Bösendorfer. Hoewever, their firm was certainly large.

Their 50-year brochure (above), shows a large manufacturing complex, and describes the operation as follows:

ORIGINAL GERMAN TEXT

TRANSLATION

“Flügel, autopianos, pianos: Geissler sind hochwertige erzeugnisse deutscher Pianobaukunst. Der Name Geissler had sowohl in Fachkreisen als auch beim Privat-publikum einen guten Klang. Begründet liegst derselbe in dem Bestreben, beim Bau der Instrumente die sorgfältigste Auswahl der zur Verwendung gelangenden Materialien zutreffen.   Abgesehen vom technischen Aufbau der wohldurchdachten Konstruktion is die Materialienfrage von ausserordentlicher Wichtigkeit und trägt zur harmonischen Abstimmung des Ganzen, zur Erreichung einer bezaubernden Tonqualität ganz wesentlich bei. Seit 50 Jahren wird in meinen Pianobauwerkstätten nach diesen Richtlinien verfahren. Bewährte Fachleute sorgen für eien ausgeglichene Fabrikation und überwachen eien sorgfältige Herstellung und eine standhafte, hervorragende politur nach neuen modernen Verhahren. Die Intonation eines jeden Pianos und Flügels erfolgt von Meisterhand, so dass in ausgeprägter Weise solide Bauart, ausgezeichnete Stimmhaltung, grosser Wohllaut im Klangcharakter als besondere Kennzeichen hervorzuheben sind. Die heutigen Mittel und die neuen Wege der Technik, die in einem modernen Fabrikbetriebe nicht fehlen dürfen und auch in meinem Werkstätten zur Verwendung gelangen, ermöglichen es mir, bei allen Vorzügen äusserst preiswert zu sein. Die Güte meines Fabrikantes ist weltbekannt. Verschaffen auch Sie sich daher Stunden der Freude durch einen Geissler.”

“Flutes, player pianos and pianos, pianos: Geissler are quality German Piano manufacturers. The name Geissler has a good reputation in both professional circles and with private audiences. This is substantiated by the effort expended in the construction of instruments, applying the most careful selection and sourcing of materials.   Apart from the technical aspects, the well-thought-out structure of the instruments is the fundamental question which is of exceptional importance and contributes to the harmonious coordination of the whole, to achieve an enchanting sound quality. For 50 years, I [F. Geissler] have managed my piano construction workshops according to these guidelines. Proven professionals provide balanced production and monitoring, careful preparation and a steadfast excellent finishes for new modern instruments. The intonation of each piano and flute is carried by a master hand, so that markedly solid design, excellent tuning stability, and great euphony in sound character should be highlighted as distinguishing features. The current methods and materials in the industry, which cannot be excluded from a modern factory, and are used in my workshops, allow my instruments to be extremely inexpensive with all the aforementioned advantages. The excellence of my products is world renowned, therefore you also can gain hours of enjoyment with a Geissler instrument.”

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The company’s 50th anniversary

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The article, Zum 50 jährigen Bestehen der Firma F. Geißler in Zeitz (To the 50 years existence of the firm F, Geißler in Zeitz) describes how, in 1891, Paul Emmerling became a shareholder in the firm of Franz Geissler, and from there the business grew. The Emmerling family were music-lovers and Paul Emmerling wanted to discover the practical and theoretical secrets of piano-making.

A year later, Franz Geissler left the company to concentrate on making keyboards, but the company kept the Geissler trademark. They even became purveyors to the Grand Duchy of Baden.

ORIGINAL GERMAN TEXT	TRANSLATION
“In Anerkennung verdienstvoller Qualitätsarbeit wurde die Firma F. Geißler bzw. ihr Inhaber u.a. durch Verleihung des großherzoglich badischen unter des königlich rumänischen Hoflieferanten titels geehrt.”	“In recognition of meritorious quality work the company F. Geissler and its owner were honoured by being made royal purveyor to the royal Romanian court of the Grand Duke of Baden.”
(Above) Insignia of the Grand Duchy of Baden

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Always with a scientific approach and enquiring mind, Paul Emmerling continued developing his pianos to the highest technological levels:

ORIGINAL GERMAN TEXT	TRANSLATION
“Hand in Hand mit der zu jenerZeit aufstrebenden Firma Ludwig Hupfeld in Leipzig machte er die ersten Versuche mit einem 36 tönigen Klaviervorsetzer mit der runden Ariston-Notenscheibe.”	“Together with the distinguished company Ludwig Hupfeld of Leipzig, Paul Emmerling made the first experiments with a 36-tone Klaviervorsetzer in a player piano.”

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Word War I and the end of the Geissler firm

World War I hit the Geissler company hard, as it did all industries in Germany, and Paul Emmerling, the founder, died, when he was only 54 years old. The company was then run by the operations manager and Emmerling’s widow, until their son Willy Emmerling returned after the war from a Russian prisoner of war camp where he had been interned.

He tried to renew the international relations of the firm for exporting, but could not produce enough pianos to meet the demand due to damage to their factory. Willy Emmerling decided to build a new modern factory next to the old premises from 1923 to 1924 – the most modern, spacious clean and automated of its time. Of course, he could not have predicted the start of World War II in 1939. An announcement in 1928 marked the 50th anniversary of the firm:

ORIGINAL GERMAN TEXT	TRANSLATION
“Der 1. September [1928] is vom Hause Geissler in aller Stille begangen worden..Die Bemühungen der Firma, den Gründungstag der Firma aus amtlichen Archiven einwandfrei zu ermitteln, hatten das gewünschte ergebnis leider zu spät gezeitigt, als daß eine Jubiläumsfeier hätte veranstaltet werden können. Gleichwohl hatten es sich Freude der Firma und des Inhabers nicht nehmen lassen, des freudigen Ereignisses durch Glückwünsche, Blumenspenden und sonstige Angebinde zu gedenken.”	“On the 1st September [1928] the company’s 50th anniversary took place quietly at the Geissler home…However, this had not reduced the delight of the Company and the owners in commemorating the happy event with congratulations, flowers donations and other presentations.”
– Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau (German) – Magazine for Instrument Construction

The publishers of the announcement wished the Geißler firm 25 more years of prosperity.

Three years later, in 1931, the company closed down. By that time, however, my piano had been shipped from Germany, to London, to South Africa.

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MY PIANO IN SOUTH AFRICA – Adolph Mosenthal & Co.

Geissler pianos ended up all over the world, also in South Africa, which was a British Colony before World War II. The country gained nominal independence from Britain in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was created, and full independence with the creation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961. The Geissler pianos were imported from London by, amongst others, the German-born Mosenthal brothers.

In the Furniture Gazette of Nov. 8, 1879 (link to pdf), Mosenthal, Sons & Co. are listed as exporters from London of furniture, sewing machines, matting, rugs and upholstery – not pianos, but pianos are categorized as furniture as well as musical instruments, as unglamorous as that may sound. Joseph Mosenthal, the patriarch of the Mosenthal business empire, was born in Hesse-Kassel, Germany, in 1813, and died in Sydenham, England, in 1871. He arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1839 to work as a clerk in the firm of Kilian & Stein, which had its head office in Frankfurt, Germany.

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The Mosenthal company in South Africa

With his brother, Adolph, he founded Mosenthal Brothers in Cape Town, and by 1842 had expanded the South African operations to Port Elizabeth. By 1848 they had expanded it to Graaff-Reinet, South Africa. The third Mosenthal brother, Julius, joined them in the early 1850s. Joseph Mosenthal was a prominent member of society and active in politics. In 1841 he was the founder member of the Cape Town Hebrew congregation, the earliest Hebrew congregation in South Africa.

The Mosenthal company, operating as Mosenthal, Sons & Co., existed in South Africa from 1839 (the UK business from 1954) to 1939 – in other words roughly the same time period as that of F. Geissler. Adolph Mosenthal had six sons, two of whom died in their twenties; Joseph, the youngest, joined Lloyds in London, and Harry (c. 1850 – 1915), George (d. 1912) and William (d. 1933) all played active roles in family business. (Source: Dictionary of SA Biography, Vol. 3 and 4.)

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In the 1914 Who’s Who in Business (UK edition), Mosenthal, Sons & Co., are listed as South African Merchants, with premises at 72 Basinghall Street, London, E.C. It states that the company was established about sixty years before (1854) by Adolph Mosenthal and his brother Joseph Mosenthal in London, trading as Joseph Mosenthal & Co. until 1876, when the title was changed to Mosenthal, Sons & Co. The South African business started about seventy-five years previously (1839), and was carried on at various ports and inland towns.

In the South African Indian Who’s Who and Commercial Directory of 1938 to 1940, the Mosenthal firm placed a notice of their centenary celebrations that would have taken place in 1939.

By 1914, the company was run by Adolph Mosenthal’s descendants, Harry Mosenthal, William Mosenthal and Edgar A. H. Mosenthal, and the company had branches in Port Elizabeth (Adolph Mosenthal & Co.); East London (Mosenthal & Co.); Johannesburg, Pretoria and Delagoa Bay (Mosenthal Brothers, Ltd.); Kimberley (Mosenthal Brothers & Co.); and in Buluwayo and Salisbury (now Harare) in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), as the Mosenthal Rhodesia Agency. 

The South African Head Office of the Mosenthal empire was in Port Elizabeth – where the Geissler piano was probably delivered to from Germany and from where it was transported inland to the branch office of the company in Kimberley, where my grandmother’s family lived and where they purchased it.

The Diamond Connection

The company also had branches elsewhere in South Africa. They were general merchants, exporters of goods, dealers in all South African products, and diamond producers as well, being a member of the De Beers Diamond Syndicate.

Harry Mosenthal was a contemporary of the Oppenheimer family. He was considered one of South Africa’s mining magnates along with Cecil John Rhodes and C.D. Rudd, when South Africa was still part of the British Empire. He was director of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., Consolidated Company Bultfontein Mine, Ltd., Griqualand West Diamond Mining Co. (Dutoitspan Mine), Ltd., Exploration Co., Ltd., and Rand Mines, Ltd.

His brother, William Mosenthal, was a member of the London Committee of the New Jagersfontein Mining and Exploration Co., Ltd. (Source: Mining Tycoons in the Age of Empire, 1870 – 1945, by Raymond E. Dumett, Ashgate Publishing Limited, UK, 2009, pp. 92 – 89)

The Mosenthals were famous for their excellent distribution and logistics systems, and their businesses spread through South Africa. The pianos were not core business for them – it was just one product of many in their general stores. But no doubt those logistics systems came in handy when the pianos had to be moved to far-flung locations.

“Mosenthal credit system in the countryside – first banknotes of firms:  The Mosenthals from Germany, in particular, left a permanent mark on the economy through their initiative and diversity of interests. From bases in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth they set up a chain of trading stations in the interior of the Cape, usually manned by Jewish immigrants whom they had brought out from Germany.”

– hist-chron.com/afrika/suedafrika/EncJud_juden-in-Suedafrika03-wirtschaft-ENGL.html – Jewish businesses in South Africa

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Pianos, diamonds and goats

Harry Mosenthal and his firm were responsible for introducing Angora goat farming from Turkey, into South Africa, an industry that still exists today. (Source: The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, by William D. Rubinstein, Michael Jolles, Hilary L. Rubinstein, p. 698)

Obviously the Mosenthals thought that the right quality pianos for their high-end clients and associates included the “technologically and tonally sound” Geissler pianos from their country of origin. It’s good that they did, because I ended up owning one.

And there you have the whole story that links the Grand Duchy of Baden, with pianos, diamonds and Angora goats.

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Just because it’s old does not make it good

To get back to the argument that out-of-tune pianos are no more than heavy, ugly pieces of furniture, I’ve been told that just because an instrument is old, does not mean it is good or has antique value. My piano has no antique value, though it is pretty with its glowing rosewood, ivory and ebony keys, and copper candelabras and pedals. But it is perfectly tuned and has a lovely, rounded, mellow tone, and that is its value. That is why I keep it and look after it. Besides, when I sit down to play it, I feel like a kid again.

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