William Knabe Pianos

The firm began by William Knabe in 1839 was established in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a German immigrant who studied the English language and piano building for six years prior to his beginning his own business. He built instruments of very high regard and his pianos were very popular in the southern US. The American Civil War hurt his business and he died in 1864 leaving his company to his sons. After a somewhat shaky economic time after the war his son, Ernest Knabe got the firm back on sound financial ground by making a dramatic sales trip to the northern and mid-western states. It was a big success and that assured the company’s future. Knabe’s pianos were very highly regarded by pianists such as Camille Saint-Saens, an enthusiastic user, and by 1900 the company was making around 2000 instruments per year. The Knabe piano is known in some circles as “a singer’s piano” because of its somewhat more mellow tone than many of its contemporaries.