Krakauer Brothers was founded in 1869 by Simon Krakauer, his son David and his brother Julius in New York City. Krakauer was well known for building superior quality pianos in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.  Krakauer put a great deal of thought and effort in the design and construction of their instruments and the result was a superior piano of excellent tone quality.

In 1917 Krakauer incorporated The Madison Piano Company, building Madison brand of pianos for several decades. Krakauer gained control of the large Haddorff Piano Company in the 1920s.  Haddorff’s extensive manufacturing operations gave Krakauer the ability to substantially increase production.

Because of their superior quality, Krakauer Brothers was one of the few American Piano Companies to survive the Great Depression without being absorbed into a larger conglomerate like Aeolian-American, etc. Krakauer Brothers continued to build pianos until 1980 when it was sold to the Kimball Piano Company.  Kimball only produced the Krakauer name for a few years before Kimball went out of business in about 1986.

Vintage Krakauer pianos are some of the most well made instruments we see come through our restoration shop today, and they are highly recommended.