GEWA music
As the "music region of Germany", the Vogtland area has a history of more than 300 years in musical instrument manufacturing. As early as around 1800, the region was the center of European musical instrument manufacturing with the production of stringed instruments, zithers, woodwind and brass instruments, and later also harmonica and accordion. Knowledge and experience passed on from generation to generation have produced some of the most renowned brands in the industry.
Today, Vogtland is part of the European No. 1 cluster for micro- and nano-electronics, information and communication technology, as well as software development. During the "Space Race" in the 1950s and 1960s, companies from the region were already helping the Soviet Union develop necessary technologies to launch the first satellite into orbit. After German reunification, these companies reoriented themselves and took advantage of the abundant reservoir of highly skilled workers. Basic research, cutting-edge application and manufacturing technologies, as well as production lines at various levels had found their home in the Silicon Saxony, which currently employs nearly 100,000 people and is moving steadily into the future.
GEWA music was founded in 1925 by Georg Walther in the town of Adorf in the Vogtland region of Germany. Following the tradition of the region, a small team of violin makers initially concentrated on the construction and sale of handmade instruments and, a short time later, also on the manufacturing of cases. Georg Walther distributed his products on his own initiative through music retail stores; through the contacts he made, he also succeeded in obtaining distribution rights from a variety of manufacturers.
The occupation of the Vogtland region as a result of Second World War forced a change in the company. At short notice, Georg Walther decided to relocate with 20 of his best employees to Mittenwald in Bavaria, where a branch company was already operating at that time. In this region, which is also known for instrument manufacturing, the company was able to quickly build on its old business model and economic successes, not least due to its central positioning in Europe.
In 1990, the political change of the reunification, coupled with the lack of qualified personnel and an acute shortage of space in Mittenwald led to the relocation of the company back to Adorf/Vogtland in the period until 2008. With entrepreneurial spirit and a wealth of ideas, the first production facility for stringed instruments, bows, cases and bags was opened there in rented premises. Last but not least, the opportunity arose to take on highly qualified guitar makers and violin makers from the former GDR state enterprise Musima (Musikinstrumentenbau Markneukirchen); the acquisition of a former state enterprise building also proved to be a stroke of luck. In 2008, the relocation back to Adorf was finally completed and now unites development, product management, purchasing, production, sales, and marketing as well as administration at the company headquarters.
In the same year, GEWA music decided to divide individual product groups of the company into five specific divisions. This reorganization of the internal structures makes it possible to operate in a highly specialized manner in the product groups and thus to provide the world market with top products in the respective price categories in each specialist area.
In addition to the sales subsidiaries in almost all European countries, the USA and China, GEWA music also holds substantial stakes in musical instrument factories in Asia, some of which were founded as joint ventures with Chinese partners as early as the end of the 1980s. Instruments and accessories are produced in the GEWA production facilities in compliance with the highest quality, environmental, health and social standards. This awareness as part of the corporate culture has been firmly anchored in the guiding principles since the origins.
GEWA music manufactures entry-level products and parts for the amateur sector mainly in its Asian production facilities. High-quality string instruments and their cases, as well as digital pianos and drums (which have to meet the highest technological demands), are manufactured in the factories in Adorf and are labeled GEWA - Made in Germany.
Selected materials and technology, state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and the assurance of knowledge transfer across generations are a tradition at GEWA music - We engineer music since 1925.
