A strange coincidence occurred on a holiday trip to the Thai city of Phuket. Although my wife and me are not usually unfriendly to other tourists when we are on vacation, we do not go out of our way to initiate closer contact. This time, however, we met an American couple at our hotel complex situated right on the ocean and there was simply “chemistry” between us. As is common with Americans, we introduced ourselves by our first names. As the two bid us farewell before their departure the man gave me his business card. The last name on the card read “Steinway”.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Our acquaintance was a descendent of Heinrich Engelhardt Steinweg, who changed his name to Henry E. Steinway after emigrating to the United States. There would not be anything unusual about that in and of itself had Engelhardt Steinweg not originally come from our hometown of Seesen, where he had been an instrument maker. The first piano he ever built in 1835, he gave to his bride Juliane as a wedding present. The first grand piano was built in 1936 in an old laundry in Seesen that had been converted to a workshop. In 1851, he and his four sons migrated to New York where the family started out by working in various piano factories. In 1853, he started his own business. After anglicizing his name in 1854, the company was called Steinway & Sons. The business experienced an enormous upswing after winning first prize for its pianos at the New York Industrial Exhibit in 1855.
Further Reading: Rolf Froböse: “The Secret Physics of Coincidence. Quantum phenomena and fate – Can quantum physics explain paranormal phenomena”, published by BoD)
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Picture: Steinway & Sons