Woods & Son Piano Company
Woods & Son
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After years of work in different towns,
full of good ideas he returned to his
home in the region of the Oberlausitz.
On April 1st, 1859, August Förster
established a small workshop in Löbau,
where he made his first piano. 1862 he
established the first factory building
in the suburbs of the town in today's
Jahn street. This factory has been developed into a modern plant during the last decades. Upon the death of August Foerster in 1897, the management of the company was taken over by his son, Caesar Foerster.
In 1900 he founded a branch factory in Georgswalde in Bohemia. The
Austro-Hungarian Empire was an important
market but because of the high import
duties that were imposed in 1886, sales
to that area became very difficult. The
establishment of the branch factory only
a few kilometers across the border from
Loebau provided the opportunity to
circumvent the high duties and thus gain
access to a large market. In 1945, the
Czech government nationalized the branch
factory in Bohemia.
To this day, pianos
with the name August Foerster are being
produced in the Czech Petroff factory.
These pianos cannot be compared to the
design and quality of the original and
traditional AUGUST FOERSTER pianos made
in Loebau.
After the early death of Caesar Foerster
in 1915, his sons, Gerhard and Manfred
Foerster took over the management of
the company that was founded by their
great-grandfather. Gerhard was a
brilliant piano designer and Manfred was
a
businessman. And thus such inspired
designs like the quarter-tone grand
piano and electrochord were introduced
in the 1920s and 1930s. The death of
Gerhard Foerster in 1966 brought about
the first changes in ownership.
The
taking over of the company by Wolfgang Foerster, whose father Manfred had died
in 1952, brought about many problems.
The enormously high inheritance taxes
could only be paid by allowing the
government to purchase shares in the
company. During the last wave of
government nationalization in 1972, the
company was transformed into the state
owned VEB Fluegel-und Pianobau Loebau.
Still under the management of Wolfgang
Foerster, the company was annexed be
part of the German Piano-Union Leipzig.
Even though the ruling ideology of the
time tried to push the Foerster name
into the background, the character and
brand name Foerster was sustained due to
its successful export business. The
family name was added back into the
company name in 1976 and it was re-named
VEB Foerster Pianos Loebau.
Despite
numerous awards and medals for various
grand piano designs presented at the
most important international fairs, it
was difficult for Foerster, as well as
all other factories in the socialistic
economy of the German Democratic
Republic, to secure needed parts. The
significance of being a source of
foreign currency made it possible to
procure parts from non-socialistic
countries and so it was that Foerster
able to use Renner piano actions as
early as 1987. After the collapse of the
government of the German Democratic
Republic, Wolfgang Foerster was able to
re-privatize the family business. The
general economic recession of the early
1990's lead to a restructuring of the
production and staffing of the company.
In the following years, numerous
investments were made for the upkeep and
development of the traditional
production facility. |
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Woods & Son
Piano Company
303.457.2361 off
303.507.1727 cell
303.254.9673 fax
Sales and Service
Joseph D. Woods
14929 Harrison Street
Brighton, CO 80602
www.woodspianos.com
woodspno@aol.com
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Copyright
All Rights Reserved
Goresko Designs
© 2006
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Member - The
International Music Products Association |
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Member - The
Piano Technicians Guild of America |
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