Alexander Downsizing
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:40 am
A report yesterday, August 13, on slippedisc.com concerning Musik Alexander in Mainz, Germany. A short statement reported by Norman Lebrecht.
"Covid has proved too much for the venerable Musik Alexander company of Mainz. The company is abandoning its Bahnhofstrasse headquarters and shutting down the string, wind, and percussion instruments departments. It is hoped that the profitable brass instrument making branch in Hechsheim and the Piano Alexander store can still be saved."
Alexander has been at the Bahnhofstra Street location for over 100 years. Philip Alexander, who runs the company now was raised by his father Anton on the top floor of the building. From the very early 1900's to 1975, all Alexander instruments were made inside this building. After 1975 to 2011, instruments were made in a building they rented directly behind the original building. In the Spring of 2011, Alexander moved production to a nearby modern facility. It's amazing to me what this company and family have survived over the past 238 years.
The photos below are the Bahnhofstra Street location, which is really a local music store in Mainz. The first photo is what the building looked like prior to being bombed in WW II. The second photo is what the location looks like today.
Any downsizing of a company most always goes back to basics - and for Alexander, that means making horns.
"Covid has proved too much for the venerable Musik Alexander company of Mainz. The company is abandoning its Bahnhofstrasse headquarters and shutting down the string, wind, and percussion instruments departments. It is hoped that the profitable brass instrument making branch in Hechsheim and the Piano Alexander store can still be saved."
Alexander has been at the Bahnhofstra Street location for over 100 years. Philip Alexander, who runs the company now was raised by his father Anton on the top floor of the building. From the very early 1900's to 1975, all Alexander instruments were made inside this building. After 1975 to 2011, instruments were made in a building they rented directly behind the original building. In the Spring of 2011, Alexander moved production to a nearby modern facility. It's amazing to me what this company and family have survived over the past 238 years.
The photos below are the Bahnhofstra Street location, which is really a local music store in Mainz. The first photo is what the building looked like prior to being bombed in WW II. The second photo is what the location looks like today.
Any downsizing of a company most always goes back to basics - and for Alexander, that means making horns.
. This is Alexander's bread and butter so they'd be foolish to abandon it.