A little history of the great art of piano-building

The history of SAUTER starts with a young apprentice cabinet-maker from Spaichingen, who wants to achieve more: Johann Grimm. In 1813, he moves to Vienna to become a piano-maker. He returns from what was then the world's greatest city for music and instrument-making after six years of training, full of energy and ideas. In 1819, he starts to make square pianos in Spaichingen. In 1846, as Grimm's heir and successor, his nephew Carl Sauter expands the workshop into a proper manufacturing centre employing a dozen apprentices, which soon becomes one of the leading piano factories in Swabia. After Carl's early death, Johann Sauter, who is only 17 years old, takes over the factory with his mother. From his extensive trips abroad, including a visit to America, he brings back all sorts of new ideas and concepts. Work at Sauter's is characterised from the beginning by a feeling of openness, a pioneering spirit and a love of perfection. And so it is hardly a surprise that many of the inventions and improvements in piano technology are patented internationally. The era of Johann Sauter also sees the changeover of production from square pianos to the larger pianoforte. Carl Sauter II, who takes over the company in 1909, continues to expand the factory and increase production. With their outstanding quality and improved models, the excellent sound associated with the name of Sauter becomes famous throughout Germany. Hans Sauter, who takes over the firm in 1948, applies new findings in science and new techniques and materials to the modern craft of piano-building. Soon, the pianos - which both look and sound superb - are being exported world-wide. In 1952, the production of grand pianos marks the start of a new epoch in the company's history - a clear sign of outstanding quality of sound. With the development of the double repetition mechanism, giving the pianos a particularly sensitive touch, and the launch of the high-quality M Line at the beginning of the 1990s, Sauter consistently follows the direction it has chosen.

Sauter adds a designer touch with its exclusive "Sauter - designed by Peter Maly" model range, created especially for modern living environments.

With the 275 concert grand, launched in the year 2000, Sauter enters the sound dimension of the international grand piano class. A new era of great piano building has begun.

For more information, please visit http://www.sauter-pianos.de/