Steingraeber & Söhne
Steingraeber is a German family-owned piano manufactory in Bayreuth known for handcrafted grand and upright pianos, historical ties to the Wagner Festival, and technical innovations for concert and contemporary music.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Steingraeber & Söhne is a German piano manufacturer based in Bayreuth, Bavaria. The family business traces its roots to an earlier Thuringian tradition of harpsichord and keyboard-instrument making and was formally established in Bayreuth in 1852 by Eduard Steingraeber. The company continues to manufacture instruments in Bayreuth and is associated with high-end handcrafted grand and upright pianos rather than mass-market production. The company’s identity is closely connected with the cultural history of Bayreuth. In 1871, it acquired the Liebhardtsche Palais, a Rococo building that became the Steingraeber Haus and remains the company’s headquarters. The building includes historical rooms, concert and selection spaces, artist accommodation, exhibition areas, and facilities connected with the company’s cultural programming. Steingraeber became a supplier to the Bayreuth Festival after its foundation in 1876 and has maintained an enduring association with the Wagner family and the musical life of the city. In 1881, Richard Wagner commissioned the company to make the so-called Grail Bell Piano for the temple scenes of Parsifal. The manufactory’s historical network also includes Franz Liszt. Eduard Steingraeber had worked as Liszt’s piano tuner during concert tours, and Liszt performed in the Rococo Hall of Steingraeber Haus. A historical instrument associated with Liszt, known as the Liszt Flügel, remains part of the company’s concert and cultural heritage. Other musicians and composers connected with the house include Engelbert Humperdinck, Richard Strauss, and Alfred Cortot. Steingraeber’s production is deliberately small-scale. The company has stated that more than 40,000 grand and upright pianos have been produced since its founding, while contemporary annual output is approximately one hundred instruments. More than thirty employees, including piano makers, work in the Bayreuth operation. The instruments are manufactured using traditional craft methods, including solid wood construction and shellac-and-wax case finishing in place of polyester or synthetic-resin coatings. The company also trains piano and harpsichord makers. The current range comprises upright pianos and grand pianos in several sizes, including salon, chamber-concert, semi-concert, and concert instruments. Models and options emphasize customization, acoustic refinement, historical performance practice, accessibility, and experimentation. Innovations associated with the company include the Sordino system, which inserts felt between the hammers and strings; the Mozart Rail, which reduces key depth for repertoire conceived for earlier keyboard instruments; a transducer-equipped grand piano developed with composer Robert HP Platz and the Experimental Studio of SWR; carbon soundboard options; wheelchair-accessible pedal arrangements; and specialized action and bridge technologies. Steingraeber also operates as a cultural host. Its program includes concerts, exhibitions, Wagner-related performances, and the Zeit für neue Musik festival, established in 1988 with composer and pianist Helmut Bieler. The house has hosted or presented performances by internationally recognized pianists and serves as a venue connected with the Franz Liszt Piano Competition Weimar-Bayreuth. Its instruments are used in concert venues internationally, including the Berliner Philharmonie, Malmö Opera, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In 2022, during the transition to the seventh generation of family leadership, the company changed its branding and dropped “& Söhne” from the logo and public presentation, while continuing the manufacturing tradition under the Steingraeber name. The business was also an official instrument partner for Roland Emmerich’s 2022 film The Magic Flute and opened a permanent exhibition devoted to a large collection of Franz Liszt photographs. Steingraeber remains an active independent German piano manufactory positioned at the intersection of premium musical instruments, craft production, performance culture, and Bayreuth’s music heritage.
History
Steingraeber’s history reaches back to a family of keyboard-instrument makers in Thuringia. Johann Gottlieb Steingraeber established a piano and organ workshop in Neustadt an der Orla in 1820. His nephew Eduard Steingraeber trained in the family business and later gained experience in Vienna, including at the workshop of Nannette Streicher, a daughter of the important Augsburg piano maker Johann Andreas Stein. Eduard also worked as Franz Liszt’s piano tuner during concert tours, an association that helped connect the family with the nineteenth-century European concert world. Eduard Steingraeber founded the Steingraeber Pianoforte Fabrik in Bayreuth in 1852 and built the company’s first grand piano there. The business expanded rapidly and became one of Bavaria’s leading piano factories. In 1871, it acquired the Liebhardtsche Palais, a surviving Rococo building that became the Steingraeber Haus. The premises remain central to the company’s identity, combining manufacturing history, performance spaces, exhibitions, and hospitality facilities. The company’s connection with Bayreuth’s festival culture began with the Bayreuth Festival in 1876. Steingraeber supplied instruments for the festival and for the Wagner family. In 1881, Richard Wagner commissioned the Grail Bell Piano for the temple scenes of Parsifal. The house also hosted or welcomed figures including Franz Liszt, Engelbert Humperdinck, Richard Strauss, and Alfred Cortot. Liszt’s historical connection is commemorated by the Liszt Flügel, which continues to be used for concerts. A second production facility on Dammallee opened in 1898 beside Steingraeber Haus. Lilly Steingraeber became the first woman to lead the company in 1907. During the first postwar years, the business diversified into furniture and radio cases. Piano production had been interrupted from 1940, and continuous grand-piano production resumed in 1972 under Heinrich and Magdalene Schmidt. Udo Schmidt-Steingraeber assumed control in 1980 after the death of his father. His period of leadership brought extensive renewal of the brand and the physical premises. Steingraeber Haus was adapted to include concert and selection halls, artists’ apartments, a museum, and displays of historical instruments and objects, including Eduard Steingraeber’s Opus 1 and surviving postwar radio cases. The company’s cultural program expanded alongside manufacturing. Since 1982, Wagner adaptations by Uwe Hoppe and the Studiobühne Bayreuth have been staged in the courtyard and Rococo garden. Since 1988, the Zeit für neue Musik festival has presented contemporary music in cooperation with composer and pianist Helmut Bieler. Steingraeber has also hosted a Bayreuth Piano Festival and provided venues for performances by prominent international pianists. Steingraeber Haus is connected with the Franz Liszt Piano Competition Weimar-Bayreuth. In manufacturing, the company retained a small-scale craft model while developing options intended for historical performance, contemporary composition, accessibility, and unusual acoustic environments. These include Sordino, Mozart Rail, transducer technology, carbon soundboards, modified pedals, magnetic action components, and alternative bridge systems. The range includes three principal upright sizes and five grand-piano formats from salon grand to concert grand. Production time is reported to range from roughly seven months for the smallest piano to approximately fourteen months for the largest. In 2022, the company entered a seventh-generation transition led by Fanny and Alban Steingraeber. The brand logo was revised and “& Söhne” was removed from the public identity, while the Bayreuth manufactory continued operating under the Steingraeber name. The company also became the official instrument partner for the film The Magic Flute and opened a permanent Franz Liszt photography exhibition. It has received craft, export, heritage, and brand-recognition awards and remains an active independent manufacturer of premium grand and upright pianos.
- 2022
Seventh-generation transition and rebrand
[1]Fanny and Alban Steingraeber continue the family business, and the logo drops “& Söhne.”
- 2018
Bavarian Export Award received
[1]The company receives the Bavarian Export Award in the crafts category.
- 2017
Transducer grand piano introduced
[1]A transducer-equipped grand piano is presented in collaboration with Robert HP Platz and the Experimental Studio of SWR.
- 2008
232 cm grand and carbon soundboard presented
[1]Steingraeber presents a 232 cm grand piano and a grand piano incorporating a carbon soundboard option.
- 1988
Zeit für neue Musik begins
[1]The contemporary-music festival is established in cooperation with Helmut Bieler.
- 1980
Udo Schmidt-Steingraeber takes over
[1]Udo Schmidt-Steingraeber assumes control following his father’s death.
- 1972
Continuous grand-piano production resumes
[1]Grand-piano production, interrupted from 1940, resumes under Heinrich and Magdalene Schmidt.
- 1907
Lilly Steingraeber leads the company
[1]Lilly Steingraeber becomes the first woman to head the business.
- 1898
Dammallee production facility opens
[1]A new production facility opens beside Steingraeber Haus and remains the location of manufacture.
- 1881
Grail Bell Piano commissioned
[1]Richard Wagner commissions the instrument later associated with the temple scenes of Parsifal.
Products and positioning
A premium, independent German piano manufactory combining traditional handcraft, family continuity, Bayreuth and Wagner heritage, concert-level performance, and experimental technical features.
Upright pianos
Steingraeber upright pianos
The upright range includes instruments approximately 122 cm and 130 cm high, as well as the 138 cm concert upright. The 138 is positioned as an unusually powerful upright with qualities associated with grand-piano performance. Steingraeber builds the uprights in its Bayreuth manufactory using solid-wood construction and traditional finishing methods, with optional systems intended to modify touch, muting, accessibility, and repetition.
Grand pianos
Salon grands
Steingraeber’s salon grand formats measure approximately 170 cm and 192 cm. They are intended for recital rooms, studios, private music rooms, and smaller concert settings where a full grand action and refined tonal palette are required without the footprint of a concert grand. Custom woods, furniture forms, and specialized options can be specified.
Grand pianos
Chamber concert grand
The approximately 212 cm chamber concert grand occupies the middle ground between salon instruments and larger stage grands. It is designed for chamber music, recital venues, teaching institutions, and professional pianists seeking projection and tonal complexity in a relatively compact concert instrument.
Grand pianos · 2008
Semi-concert grand
The 232 cm semi-concert grand is intended for larger recital and performance environments. A model of this length was presented at Musikmesse Frankfurt in 2008. The instrument can be ordered with specialized options, including technologies intended to improve stability in difficult climates and to support distinctive performance techniques.
Grand pianos
Concert grand
The approximately 276 cm concert grand is the largest principal grand format in the range. It is manufactured for major stages and concert halls, with production taking substantially longer than for smaller models. Steingraeber also offers custom finishes, woods, and selected mechanical or acoustic options for professional and institutional users.
Piano performance system
Sordino
Sordino places a strip of felt between the hammers and strings of a grand piano. The system alters the instrument’s tone and enables colors associated with historical keyboard practice. Although the technique has precedents in earlier pianos, Steingraeber adapted it as an integrated modern option. Its profile was increased through recordings and performances by pianists including Martha Argerich and Martin Stadtfeld.
Piano action option
Mozart Rail
Mozart Rail allows the key depth of a modern piano to be reduced through a knee or hand lever. The option is intended to make rapid repetition and articulation more similar to the shallower actions of eighteenth-century fortepianos, supporting historically informed approaches to Classical-era repertoire.
Experimental grand piano · 2017
Transducer grand piano
The transducer grand uses electronic transducers to set the soundboard in vibration. In combination with Pianoteq software, the system can reproduce different tunings, sound characteristics, and sound materials. It was developed with composer Robert HP Platz and the Experimental Studio of SWR and supports compositions designed specifically for the technology.
Grand piano acoustic option
Phönix bridge system
The Phönix-related bridge design uses roller bridge clamp gaffs and an adjustable attachment pin rather than relying solely on the conventional zigzag arrangement of bridge pins. The intended benefits include more consistent string pressure, improved energy transfer, and easier tuning. The system is available as an option rather than being standard across all production.
Marketing campaigns
- 2022The Magic Flute instrument partnership
International
Steingraeber acted as the official instrument partner for Roland Emmerich’s film The Magic Flute, extending the brand’s visibility from concert and heritage settings into cinema.
Outcome. The partnership connected the manufactory with a major international film production; no commercial performance figures are available.
- 1988Zeit für neue Musik
Germany
Steingraeber established the Zeit für neue Musik festival with composer and pianist Helmut Bieler to support contemporary music and experimental performance.
Outcome. The festival became a continuing part of the cultural program at Steingraeber Haus.
- 1982Wagner courtyard and garden performances
Germany
Wagner adaptations by Uwe Hoppe and Studiobühne Bayreuth began to be performed in the inner courtyard and Rococo garden of Steingraeber Haus.
Outcome. The performances reinforced the company’s connection with Bayreuth’s Wagner tradition and made its historic premises an active theatrical venue.
- Bayreuth Piano Festival
Germany
Steingraeber initiated and hosted a piano festival in Bayreuth, presenting recognized pianists in the Margravial Opera House, Stadthalle Bayreuth, and the company’s own concert spaces.
Outcome. The festival strengthened the brand’s role as a cultural presenter and local concert institution.
Brand decisions
2022
Seventh-generation rebrandStrategyBackground
The family business continued into its seventh generation under Fanny and Alban Steingraeber.
Action taken
The company revised its logo and removed “& Söhne” from its public brand identity, using Steingraeber as the principal name.
Aftermath
The Bayreuth manufacturing operation and family ownership continued under the updated identity.
2017
Transducer grand piano introducedProduct launchBackground
Steingraeber sought to expand the expressive and technical possibilities of the acoustic grand piano.
Action taken
It presented a grand piano equipped with transducers developed with Robert HP Platz and the Experimental Studio of SWR, with Pianoteq software supporting alternative tunings and sound characteristics.
Aftermath
The model positioned Steingraeber as an innovator in experimental acoustic and electronic piano performance.
2008
232 cm grand and carbon soundboard options presentedProduct launchBackground
Pianos used in tropical climates or outdoor performances can face significant tuning and structural challenges.
Action taken
Steingraeber presented a 232 cm grand and a grand piano with a carbon soundboard intended to improve stability under climatic fluctuation.
Aftermath
The development broadened the company’s technical offering for demanding performance environments.
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