For almost forty years now I have been fascinated by old pianos and pianolas. Even as a child, the piano spark sparked a passion that continues to carry the fascination to this day. This passion also took shape through a childhood friend with whom I was often allowed to be in Hamburg's Steinway & Sons workshops since his father worked there.

My great wish to learn piano or to have one at home was confirmed with the purchase of a guitar 😉. A detour - because the purchase of a piano would have meant too much financial and spatial effort - and probably also because my parents were not sure whether this could only be a fleeting idea. It was not.

Years later, with the support of my parents, I got my first beautiful and unfortunately technically ruined piano (Ludwig Wulff & Co. from Copenhagen) - purchased from a Danish antique dealer. The friendly piano maker, who came for the first tuning, explained me two ways to make this piano playable again - 3.000,00 DM repair or jobbing in the holidays and work off. The second seemed more realistic to me than the student.

My passion for the old instruments led me to convince the friendly piano maker not to further cannibalize the very old pianos, but to leave them to me for little money. Due to lack of space I could not keep all of them and started to sell instruments on. And it was only then that I discovered my real fascination for pianos. Finding pianos and upright pianos from the golden era, discovering their history, having them restored to their original splendour, finding new appreciative hands - and all this in close exchange with enthusiasts and experts all over the world. Touching stories and experiences from the many encounters make up an important part of me today.

Pianolas are a fascination of their own to me, as they aroused an unparalleled enthusiasm, especially in the period 1900-1930, and the musical repertoire on music rolls is an immeasurable treasure. Even after decades the fascination is unbroken.