August Forster (1895)

1895 original Grand Concert upright August Forster with tall Burr Walnut Veneered casing, ornate paneling, brass candle holders, and big, powerful rounded tone. A fine instrument by one of the world's most respected high ranking manufacturers. The internals are overhauled with a partially rebuilt action and component replacement throughout. We have worked on many August Forster's, but this one has by far the longest strings and biggest soundboard, projecting a broad resonant sound, with a deep potent bass register, right down to the last note, and with pure depth of tone in the mid and high range. 

Light to medium action, weighted original ivory keys, cast iron frame, overstrung, underdamper and with stable pitch and evenness. Feels nice to play, balanced and responsive, as good as a modern piano. The original ivory keys are in very good condition, un-chipped and flush. Effective pedal system, good hammers with little wear, renewed brass trimmings, and partial string and pin replacement. This piano would suit a large home due to its size, art case style, large volume and commanding presence. A top piano by a top German maker.

Serial Number: 8466 (1895)

August Förster is a piano manufacturing company (also rendered "Foerster," occasionally "Forster," that currently has a staff of 40 employees and produces around 120 grand pianos and 150 uprights per year.

On April 1, 1859, August Förster opened a small piano workshop in Löbau, Germany, expanding to a factory on Löbau’s Jahn Street in 1862. Still in use today, this facility has been enlarged and modernized by the Förster family and remains their exclusive site. 

In 1897, Caesar Förster succeeded his father August as manager of the company, and opened a second factory in Georgswalde (Jiříkov), Bohemia (later Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic) in 1900.

In 1945 the factory in Georgswalde was nationalized. Under new state-sanctioned management many pianos of good quality were produced, but since 1945 the Czech-made pianos have had no connection or relationship to the German August Förster piano. This "other" August Förster is currently produced in the Czech Republic by the Petrof (also rendered "Petroff," "Petrov") Piano Company, and sold in Canada and certain European countries.In 1937 the company manufactured one of the first electric pianos, the “Vierling-Förster” piano, developed by Oskar Vierling at the Heinrich Institute for Oscillation Research at the Technical University of Berlin using electromagnetic pickups.