Rohlfing & Sons

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The music house Rohlfing & Sons was the Milwaukee agent for the Steinway & Sons Piano Company. William Rohlfing Sr., founder and company President, was the brother of the piano manufacturers Rohlfing Brothers in Osnabrueck, Germany. (14) His son William Rohlfing Jr ,his family and company name are mentioned numerous times throughout William Steinway's diary.

William Rohlfing, Sr. (b December 17, 1830, in Hannover, Germany; d. October 10, 1908, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) (5)(12) learned piano making in his father's factory. (7) (12) William immigrated to the United States in January 1852. (5)(1) He first lived in Baltimore, working at the Weiss Brothers' piano factory. (5)(12) In 1855 he became a foreman at the Louis Stirn piano manufacturing company also in Baltimore. He married Stirn's daughter Emma (5) and started a piano manufacturing company with his brothers-in-law Daniel and August Stirn in Norfolk, Virginia. (5)(7) Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, the company was dissolved and William moved back to Baltimore and joined the piano manufacturer William Knabe & Co. (5) In 1878 William Rohlfing moved his family to Milwaukee and established Rohlfing & Sons music store, selling pianos and music. William and his wife had five sons and two daughters, Mary and Ella (Diary 1891-02-04). His sons also worked in the piano business. (5)(7)

The Rohlfing & Sons store was located in a five story building on the corner of Broadway and Mason Street in Milwaukee.(15) The second floor was divided into three rooms: two were used for recitals and one was devoted exclusively to a complete line of Steinway & Sons pianos. (8) In addition to selling pianos the Rohlfing & Sons published classical and saloon music by European and American composers and music education books and journals. The company maintained strong ties with European music publishers. Music published by the Rohlfing & Sons company frequently bore a second imprint from a music publisher in Leipzig where the music was simultaneously published.(4) The company was selected to publish the "New World" composition by New York Liederkranz conductor Heinrich Zoellner for the North American Saengerbund Saengerfest held in Cleveland, Ohio in 1893. (10) The firm had also published the prize composition "Columbus" for the North American Saengerbund Saengerfest held in Milwaukee in 1886.(10)

William Rohlfing also served on the Finance Committee for this Saengerfest. (7) William Steinway wrote of attending the festival with Rohlfing and his family. (Diary, 1886-07-22, 1886-07-24) The Rohlfing house on 543 Cass Street in Milwaukee served as a musical center for the city. A large hall on the second floor was used for recitals and rehearsals by the Milwaukee Musikverein.(7) Rohlfing was a life member of this Musikverein and served as the society's treasurer for over ten years. (7) William Steinway donated a grand piano costing $524 (11) to the Musikverein in July of 1894. (Diary, 1894-07-28)

While on business trips William Steinway visited the Rohlfing home (Diary, 1886-07-21, 1891-02-04) and Rohlfing in turn called on William when in New York. (Diary, 1893-02-15, 1894-03-31, 1895-04-03) Twice William Rohlfing sent a haunch of venison to William Steinway for Christmas. (Diary, 1893-12-25, 1894-12-23) During his 1890 trip to Germany, William Steinway visited the Rohlfing Brothers piano factory in Osnabrueck and declared it "very primitive." (Diary, 1890-07-23)

William Rohlfing had traveled to New York when he learned of William Steinway's final illness but he arrived too late and found that his friend had died. (2) He attended his funeral as part of a group of members representing the American Piano Manufacturers Association. (6)

On March 22, 1901 the Rohlfing & Sons building was destroyed by fire. Pianos, original manuscripts, and records in the five storied building were a completely destroyed as were the company books listing $35,000 of running accounts. (9) The total losses were estimated at $300,000. (3) The company had to move to a building on East Water Street backing unto the river. (13) William Rohlfing died suddenly at his home on October 10, 1908 at the age of 78. (12)

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Sources:

  1. Castlegarden.org. http://www.castlegarden.org/quick_search_detail.php?p_id=4293637 (accessed 9/15/2012)
  2. Death of William Steinway," The Music Trade Review, November 30, 1896, pp. 2-3. http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1896-23-19/index.php?page_no=5&fname=MTR-1896-23-19-05.pdf (accessed 9/18/2012) 
  3. "Fire does $300,000 damage," The New York Times, March 23, 1901, p. 1.
  4. "German American Music Publishers," German American Music: Wisconsin's Tradition. Madison, WI: Center for the Study of Midwestern Cultures. http://csumc.wisc.edu/exhibit/MusicTour/GAMPublishers.htm (accessed 9/15/2012)
  5. History of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Chicago: The Western Historical Company, 1881, pg. 599. http://www.linkstothepast.com/milwaukee/1881historybiosR.php (accessed 9/15/2012)
  6. "Honored Steinway's memory" The Music Trade Review, December 5, 1896, p. 10 http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1896-23-20/index.php?page_no=10&frame=MTR-1896-23-20-10.pdf" (accessed 9/18/2012)
  7. Men of Progress. Wisconsin . USGenWeb Archives.http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/biographies/pg316-350.txt (accessed 09/15/2012)
  8. "Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Minneapolis visited by the "Musical Courier," Musical Courier, January 2, 1889, p. 44. (available through Google Books)
  9. "Rohlfing's destroyed by fire", The Music Trade Review, March 30, 1901, p. 19 http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1901-32-13/index.php?page_no=17&frame=MTR-1901-32-13-17.pdf (accessed 9/18/2012)
  10. "Rohlfing's music" The Music Trade Review, September 24, 1892, p. 1. http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1892-16-7/ (accessed 9/18/2012)
  11. Steinway Stock & Inventory Books, January 3, 1893 p. 105.
  12. "The passing of William Rohlfing," The Music Trade Review, October 17, 1908, p. 23. http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1908-47-16/index.php?page_no=23&fname=MTR-1908-47-16-23.pdf (accessed 10/02/2012)
  13. "The Rohlfings' new quarters," The Music Trade Review, September 14, 1901, p. 29. http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1901-33-11/index.php?page_no=27&fname=MTR-1901-33-11-27.pdf (accessed 10/01/2012)
  14. "William Rohlfing's European outing, The Music Trade Review, November 16, 1901, p. 22. http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1901-33-20/index.php?page_no=22&fname=MTR-1901-33-20-22.pdf (accessed 10/01/2012)
  15. WM ROHLFING & SONS, Milwaukee, The Music Trade Review, June 23, 1894, p. 21, (http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1894-18-47/index.php?page_no=23&frame=MTR-1894-18-47-23.pdf (accessed 9/18/2012)