Firefighters battle the blaze at the Bösendorfer piano factory in Austria. Photo: Wiener Neustadt Fire Department.
In Friday’s (9/22) Classic FM (U.K.), Siena Linton writes, “A major fire has destroyed one of Bösendorfer’s piano factory buildings in Austria overnight, with almost 100 firefighters on the scene. An outbuilding at one of the world’s oldest piano manufacturers burned down on Tuesday night, destroying much of the company’s business archives. According to a news report from ORF, Austria’s national public broadcasting service, 15 fire engines were deployed to the scene and nearly 100 firefighters helped to tackle and control the spread of the blaze. The fire broke out at around 10:30 p.m. … Firefighters were able to control the spread of the flames, and the neighboring piano factory floor remained unaffected so that production was able to continue the following morning…. The fire had been started by a defective electrical device on a desk…. Founded in 1828, Bösendorfer became the official piano maker for the Emperor of Austria in 1830 and attracted high praise from the likes of Franz Liszt … The current Bösendorfer piano factory in Wiener Neustadt, just south of Vienna, was opened in 1973 and is responsible for the manufacturing of all Bösendorfer instruments, where master craftspeople produce almost 300 pianos by hand each year.”
