Heinrich Hochmann

[macfiresafe]

Hi! I have just come into possession of my father's old upright piano from my sister (we live in Australia). It appears to be very old, I know my father had it for over 35-40 years and none of the family can recollect how or when it appeared. It has a brass inlay name of Heinrich Hochmann and underneath that Dresden: I have googled all over the internet and can't seem to find any information about this piano. Can anyone help with a bit of history on this old piano please? Thanks.

[Bill Kibby]

The vast majority of piano names are not listed on the internet, I have over twenty thousand on file, and many of them are fictitious aliases used by retailers. The few references I have to Hochmann are in Australia rather than Germany, so I suspect that this was a name made up for pianos imported from Germany by Palings, Allens, or someone like that, perhaps around the thirties.

If you can post some photos here, or email them to me, I may be able to give you some rough estimate of the age, but nobody can guess the value or condition without tuning it.

If your tuner removes the action, it may be marked with the action makers' name and number, and we may be able to date this.

Otherwise, your only option seems to be local history sources in Dresden.

[macfiresafe]

thank you so much for your swift and informative reply i will send you some images tomorrow and i am currently trying to locate a local tuner to come and tune this grand old lady .... georgie

[macfiresafe]

hello i have photos of the piano in question but try as i have i am unable to attach them to this page

[Bill Kibby]

If, like me, you can't get anywhere with the instructions at the top of the forum, just email the photos to me.

[MCB84]

This might be a long shot since the original post is almost 10yo. I live in FL, USA but I was doing some research on my ancestors. My great grandmother is Adela Gütter, she was a pianist and she married Heinrich (chil) Hochman in Dresden, Germany around 1934. He also played the piano. They both fled Germany with their young daughter to Argentina, however Chil died of a heart attack. His name as I’ve recentl learn wasn’t common in Germany. This might be his piano!!!

[Bill Kibby]

It seems too much of a coincidence, but I can't imagine that it would have a brass nameplate if he just owned the piano, unless he had it made for just the one piano. Perhaps it was a joke?
It would explain why I can't find Hochmann as a piano maker.

[BiancaJ]

Hi, it sounds like I have a similar piano as well. It is an upright piano with Heinrich Hochmann and dresden on it. It has a brass panel behind the strings on the inside, and it has a sticker saying it was last fumigated in 1969 by Houghton & Byrne Pty Ltd (their address is 255 George Street, Sydney). I live in Australia as well, so maybe there are more of them.

[Bill Kibby]

I can only guess that it was made around the turn of the century. If your tuner feels that it is safe to remove the action, it may be marked on the back with the action makers' name and number, and I may be able to date this.