n.
German-U.S. piano manufacturing firm.
Henry E. Steinway, born Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (17971871), was trained as an organ builder in his native Germany and began building pianos in 1836. He and most of his family followed one of his sons to the U.S. in 1850. After working for other piano firms for several years to learn the American business, in 1853 father and sons founded their own company in New York City, which came to dominate the market. In 1865 he brought to the U.S. the sons who had kept the German business going. He himself became involved in research and development, and his improvements set the standard for the modern grand piano.