Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik GmbH, is a piano-manufacturing company in Leipzig, Germany. Along with C. Bechstein, Bösendorfer and Steinway & Sons, Blüthner is frequently referred to as one of the "Big Four" piano manufacturers. History Julius Blüthner established his workshop in Leipzig, Saxony in 1853. This accomplishment was only achieved after a long and difficult campaign to gain Leipzig citizenship. Julius started his endeavor with himself and three other craftsman. A deeply religious man, Julius spoke the defining words that would allow his company to survive and flourish for the next 162 years, "May God Prevail". The age of any particular Blüthner piano can be determined by matching its serial number to the age table freely available on the Blüthner website. By 1900 Blüthner had become the largest piano maker in Germany, producing some 5,000 instruments annually. Innovations such as the Aliquot string, a fourth string that vibrated sympathetically and that is tuned in unison as well as the cylindrical soundboard and angle cut hammers, created a unique voice for the Blüthner instrument. The owners Adolf Max Blüthner, Dr. Paul Robert and Willy Bruno Heinrich were awarded an imperial and royal warrant of appointment to the court of Austria-Hungary. In 1936, Blüthner was selected to build the piano for the airship Hindenburg. During World War II Blüthner factory was destroyed in an air raid in 1942. After the war, Dr. Rudolf Blüthner-Haessler rebuilt the company and in 1948 the production of pianos was finally resumed. In 1972, the company was nationalized by the East German government but because of Ingbert Blüthner-Haessler remaining as a managing director in the company, the company was able to remain economically viable. With the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification in 1990, the Blüthner family was finally able to regain control of the company. Ingbert Blüthner-Haessler reorganized the company by increasing the production capacity and modernizing the manufacturing process. From 1994 to 1997 a new factory was built in Störmthal near Leipzig. Since 1995 Ingbert Blüthner-Haessler shared the management of the company with his two sons, Dr. Christian Blüthner-Haessler and Knut Blüthner-Haessler. In 2009, the piano company Karl Rönisch merged with Blüthner and Karl Rönisch production was moved to Blüthner factory in Leipzig. Today, along with C. Bechstein, Bösendorfer and Steinway & Sons, Blüthner is frequently referred to as one of the "Big Four" piano manufacturers. Current grand piano models Current upright