In 1839, William Henry Gaehle and William Knabe established a partnership forming the firm of Knabe & Gaehle in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1854, Gaehle withdrew giving complete control to Knabe, and the name was changed to the now famous William Knabe & Company.

After leaving the firm of Knabe & Gaehle, William H. Gaehle entered into a brief partnership with Charles Maas, establishing the firm of “Gaehle & Maas”.  Charles Maas withdrew in 1865 to build pianos under his own name.  William H. Gaehle continued building pianos under the name of “W. H. Gaehle & Company”. William H. Gaehle enjoyed much success, and his pianos were widely acclaimed as being of superior quality and craftsmanship. Wm. H. Gaehle & Company continued building pianos until about 1875.  Charles Maas went out of business in 1885.