Wilhelm Heckel GmbH
Wilhelm Heckel GmbH, commonly known as Heckel, is a long-established German maker of professional woodwind instruments, particularly bassoons, contrabassoons, and heckelphones.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Wilhelm Heckel GmbH, generally known as Heckel, is a German musical-instrument manufacturer headquartered in Wiesbaden. Established in 1831 by instrument maker Johann Adam Heckel, the company has remained family-owned and has developed a specialist reputation in the design and hand production of orchestral double-reed instruments. Its best-known products are bassoons, which are widely associated with professional orchestral and conservatory performance and are regarded as among the company’s most important instruments. Heckel’s product identity is centered on the bassoon family. In addition to standard professional bassoons, the company is known for contrabassoons and for the heckelphone, a low-register member of the oboe family. The heckelphone emerged from a late nineteenth-century collaboration involving Wilhelm Heckel, his sons, and the composer Richard Wagner. Wagner sought an instrument capable of filling the tonal space between the cor anglais and the bassoon. Although the instrument was not completed until 1904, after Wagner’s death, Heckel’s work turned the concept into a functioning orchestral instrument. The heckelphone became particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, who used it prominently in Salome, first performed in 1905, and Elektra, first performed in 1909. Its distinctive low, penetrating tone has given it a specialized role in orchestral and operatic writing. The instrument has also continued to appear in modern performances and productions of Wagnerian repertoire, including a 2016 production of Parsifal conducted under the direction of Eberhard Kloke. Historically, Heckel produced a broader range of oboe-family instruments than it does today. Earlier or limited-production instruments included oboes, cor anglais, piccolo heckelphones, and heckel-clarinas. The company also made a small number of modern conservatory-system instruments between 1933 and 1971; fewer than one hundred were produced, making surviving examples particularly rare among collectors and specialist players. Heckel occupies a high-specialization position rather than a mass-market one. Its instruments are associated with traditional craftsmanship, technical continuity, professional orchestral use, and limited production. The company’s long history, family ownership, and association with major European composers and orchestral traditions form central parts of its brand identity. Publicly available reference material does not provide detailed current ownership, management, revenue, employment, distribution, or production-volume information, so those aspects remain unspecified here.
History
Wilhelm Heckel GmbH was founded in 1831 in Wiesbaden by Johann Adam Heckel, an instrument maker. The business developed as a specialist manufacturer of woodwind instruments and remained associated with family ownership across its history. Rather than becoming a high-volume consumer brand, Heckel established its reputation through technically demanding instruments intended for professional musicians, orchestras, opera companies, and advanced conservatory use. The company is particularly identified with the bassoon. Heckel bassoons became its signature product and helped define the company’s standing in the professional double-reed market. The bassoon requires precise construction and adjustment, and its use in orchestral repertoire makes consistency, projection, response, and intonation especially important. Heckel’s reputation is therefore tied to specialist craftsmanship and continuity of design rather than broad product diversification or mass distribution. A major chapter in the company’s history began in 1879, when Richard Wagner approached Wilhelm Heckel with a request for a low double-reed instrument. Wagner wanted a sound capable of occupying the tonal space between the cor anglais and bassoon. Wilhelm Heckel and his sons pursued the idea and eventually completed the instrument in 1904. It became known as the heckelphone, a low oboe-family instrument made by Heckel. The heckelphone was completed after Wagner’s death, but it entered the musical world during an important period of late-Romantic orchestral and operatic expansion. Richard Strauss used the instrument prominently in Salome, first performed in 1905, and Elektra, first performed in 1909. These works helped demonstrate the heckelphone’s distinctive low and forceful sonority and gave the instrument an enduring place in discussions of specialized orchestral color. Heckel continued to make other members of the oboe family at various points. These included oboes, cor anglais, piccolo heckelphones, and heckel-clarinas. The company also produced modern conservatory-system instruments between 1933 and 1971, but the total was fewer than one hundred. Their scarcity has made them notable among players, historians, and collectors of specialist woodwinds. The heckelphone’s use has not been limited to its original historical period. Modern performances of Wagner’s works have continued to employ the instrument where the score or interpretation calls for its distinctive register and timbre. A cited example is a 2016 production of Parsifal conducted under the direction of Eberhard Kloke. This continuing use illustrates how Heckel’s product legacy extends beyond manufacturing history into the performance practice of major orchestral and operatic repertoire. In the present, Heckel is best understood as a highly specialized German woodwind maker. Its public identity rests on professional bassoons, contrabassoons, heckelphones, historical depth, and family continuity. The available reference material confirms that the company remains family-owned, but does not identify current executives, detailed ownership arrangements, financial results, production totals, or a current official website URL. Those fields are consequently left unreported.
- 2016
Heckelphone used in Parsifal production
[1]A heckelphone appeared in a modern production of Wagner’s Parsifal conducted under the direction of Eberhard Kloke.
- 1971
Rare conservatory-system production period ends
[1]The documented period of Heckel’s limited production of modern conservatory-system instruments concluded.
- 1933
Conservatory-system production period begins
[1]Heckel produced modern conservatory-system instruments during a period lasting through 1971; fewer than one hundred were made.
- 1909
Heckelphone used in Elektra
[1]Richard Strauss again featured the heckelphone in Elektra.
- 1905
Heckelphone used in Salome
[1]Richard Strauss prominently included the heckelphone in his opera Salome.
- 1904
Heckelphone completed
[1]Wilhelm Heckel and his sons completed the heckelphone, a low oboe-family instrument developed from Wagner’s proposal.
- 1879
Wagner proposes a low double-reed instrument
[1]Richard Wagner discussed with Wilhelm Heckel the need for an instrument bridging the tonal range of the cor anglais and bassoon.
- 1831
Company established in Wiesbaden
[1]Johann Adam Heckel founded the instrument-making business that became Wilhelm Heckel GmbH.
Products and positioning
A specialist, premium-oriented maker of professional orchestral double-reed instruments, distinguished by long family ownership, traditional German craftsmanship, limited production, and historical associations with Wagnerian and late-Romantic orchestral music.
Woodwind instruments
Bassoons
Bassoons are Heckel’s best-known product and the central instrument family associated with the company. Designed for professional orchestral and conservatory performance, they represent the firm’s core specialization in double-reed instrument making. Heckel bassoons are associated with careful construction, specialist adjustment, and a long-standing German manufacturing tradition. The instruments occupy a niche professional market rather than a mass consumer segment.
Woodwind instruments
Contrabassoons
Contrabassoons extend the bassoon family into a substantially lower register and are used to provide depth and weight in orchestral and operatic ensembles. Heckel is recognized for producing these highly specialized instruments alongside its standard bassoons. Their size, technical complexity, and limited professional use make them a specialist offering aimed primarily at orchestras, opera organizations, and advanced performers.
Oboe-family instruments · 1904
Heckelphone
The heckelphone is a low oboe-family instrument developed by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons from an idea proposed by Richard Wagner in 1879. Completed in 1904, it was intended to bridge the tonal space between the cor anglais and bassoon. Its distinctive voice became associated with Richard Strauss’s Salome and Elektra and it continues to appear in selected orchestral and operatic performances.
Woodwind instruments
Historical oboe-family instruments
At various points in its history, Heckel produced oboes, cor anglais, piccolo heckelphones, and heckel-clarinas. These instruments reflect a broader historical involvement in the oboe family than the company’s best-known bassoon and contrabassoon activities. Their availability and production status are not specified in the cited reference material, and they are best treated as historical or limited-production lines.
Woodwind instruments · 1933
Modern conservatory-system instruments
Heckel made fewer than one hundred modern conservatory-system instruments between 1933 and 1971. Because production was so limited, surviving instruments are rare and of interest to specialist musicians, historians, and collectors. The cited material does not identify a specific model range or confirm current manufacture of this category.
Recent events
- 2016
Heckelphone appears in a modern production of Parsifal[1]
Other
A heckelphone was used in a modern production of Wagner’s Parsifal conducted under the direction of Eberhard Kloke, demonstrating the instrument’s continuing relevance in Wagnerian performance.
- 1933
Heckel produces rare conservatory-system instruments[1]
Product generation
Heckel began a production period during which it made fewer than one hundred modern conservatory-system instruments through 1971, leaving surviving examples exceptionally uncommon.
- 1909
Richard Strauss features the heckelphone in Elektra[1]
Product generation
Strauss again made prominent use of the heckelphone in Elektra, reinforcing the instrument’s association with modern opera and large-scale orchestral writing.
- 1905
Richard Strauss features the heckelphone in Salome[1]
Product generation
The newly developed heckelphone was used prominently in Richard Strauss’s opera Salome, helping establish its orchestral identity.
- 1904
Heckel completes the heckelphone[1]
Product launch
Wilhelm Heckel and his sons completed the heckelphone, realizing the low-register double-reed concept associated with Wagner.
- 1879
Richard Wagner proposes the concept that would become the heckelphone[1]
Product generation
Richard Wagner approached Wilhelm Heckel with the idea of a low double-reed instrument intended to bridge the tonal range between the cor anglais and the bassoon.
Sources1 sources
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