Th. Mann & Co. was a German piano factory, existing in Bielefeld, Prussian Province of Westphalia, from 1836 until 1942, as well as instrument shop for pianos and harmoniums with temporary branch offices in Gütersloh, Herford, Detmold, Rinteln and Paderborn.
Christian Wilhelm Volkening
(occasionally J. Volkening, * around 1807 in Hille, † October 26, 1858 in Bielefeld)
Volkening was an apprentice with Andreas Streicher in Vienna. Following his apprenticeship he went with two other assistants, Klems and Sassenhof, to northern Germany. While Klems continued his work in Düsseldorf and Sassenhof in Bremen, Volkening founded his piano workshop 1836 in Bielefeld.
As a young instrument maker in Bielefeld, Volkening presented his grand pianos and uprights at the General German Trade Exhibition in Berlin in 1844, where he exhibited an upright and a grand piano with Streicher's patent mechanics, and at the first industrial exhibition of all peoples in London in 1851. In Berlin, his instruments were noticed by the professional audience: Volkening „lieferte in einem sowohl durch Ton als Spielart sehr ansprechenden Flügel und einen Pianino um so Verdienstlicheres, als ihm in dem kleinen Städtchen wohl schwerlich vorzügliche Muster zu Gebote stehen.“ (Roughly: [Volkening] delivered with an upright piano and grand piano with a very appealing tone and style of playing something even more meritorious considering that he could hardly find excellent model exemplars in this small town.) The following year Volkening received the bronze medal at the "Gewerbeproducenten" exhibition in Berlin.
Around 1840 Volkening made a mahogany veneered grand piano on vase-like legs and with maple inlaid jewelry, which was played by Franz Liszt on his concert tour in 1841. A personal inscription of Liszt testifies to this concert on the instrument: "Bielefeld - concert on November 13 F. Liszt." The instrument is now in the collection of the Museum of Musical Instruments of the University of Leipzig.
After own statement of the later factory Th. Mann & Co Volkening made one of the first baby grand piano, which design idea was recognized by a Saxon princess at a concert in Bad Oeynhausen 1850/51 and afterwards brought to Dresden.
C. W. Volkening founded his business allegedly in the so-called "Kühneschen Haus" at Kreuzstraße 565 in Bielefeld and employed 6 assistants.
Theophil Mann sen. (Occasionally also Theophilus Mann or Theodor Mann, * April 14, 1831, † June 21, 1913)
Theophil Mann was born the son of a master ropemaker in Hildesheim. Following his schooldays, he completed a carpentry apprenticeship before gaining an insight into piano construction in the workshop of the court instrument maker J. H. Weykopf in Hanover from 1848 onwards. After a short period, he returned to Hildesheim and worked with organ builder Heinrich Schaper. In 1849 C. W. Volkening called him to Bielefeld. Under Volkening, Th. Mann studied the piano construction industry from the ground up. To deepen his knowledge, Mann made in 1853 visits in the workshops of Ernst Irmler junior in Leipzig, Eduard Voigt and Karl Rönisch in Dresden, Karl Schönberner in Bautzen, Alois Bieber in Munich and Carl Blädel in Stuttgart.
After the death of Volkening, Theophil Mann took over the workshop and continued as "Pianoforte=Fabrik Th. Mann, Bielefeld" (pianoforte factory). His goal was the production of high-quality pianos with a well-trained staff. In the beginning of the company Theophil Mann sen. employed nine workers. The production quality had an effect on the instrument sales, and its increase made it necessary to expand the workshop.
In 1868 the new building at Oberntorwall 29 in Bielefeld was completed and the factory moved out of the building Kreuzstrasse 565.
Like Volkening before, Th. Mann sent exhibits to numerous industrial exhibitions in Germany and abroad. At the Industrial and Art Exhibition in London in 1862, Theophil Mann showed "a pianino with the device (...) of a 'movable hammer chair' instead of the Pédales céleste."
For the year 1871, it is noted in the catalog of the Vienna World Fair in 1873 that Th. Mann employed 20 workers and produced 120 instruments that year, the sale of which made a revenue 24,000 Thaler.
In 1873, Th. Mann presented at the world exhibition in Vienna three pianos for which he received a medal for merit. A cross-stringed piano for 975 Reichsmark, a straight-stringed instrument for 822 Rmk and a diagonal-stringed piano for 675 Rmk were on display. The ingenuity of the instrument maker, the solid construction of the pianos and their "noble (soft) tone" were emphasized.