The Company – The Story

The history of the trade mark MOLLENHAUER started with a cultural impetus in 1822 given by Johann Andreas Mollenhauer. This impetus will appear in the following history as 'the breath, the soul of the recorder' living and weaving as an 'acting reason, sometimes assembling flexible, sometimes meaty' through all generations up to now. Restating persons of the MOLLENHAUER family in this report first they are representatives for an unknown number of men and women - handcrafters, traders, musicians and music teachers - more or less closely related to the family and inflamed by this impetus and bearing it for almost two hundred years responsibly.

By the way, the name MOLLENHAUER, like many last names, emerged from a profession - in this case from hewing hutches and grain scoops. The wooden hutches were used with different professions and within householding to mix dough. When Johann Andreas left his hometown Fulda to go on the tramp during his apprenticeship as a wood turmer he was 16 years old. At this time his relatives were not carrying on this profession anymore for a long time already.

On the tramp

Being on the tramp Johann Andreas had to keep a log requested by authority. This log shows the route of more than 4000 km and its stations very clearly. It also shows that he became acquainted to clockmaking and especially making of musical instruments where he was very interested in. About seven years later he came back to Fulda to start up as a maker of musical instruments. One year later (1823) he already showed his first flutes, clarinets and oboes at an exhibition in Kassel. These instruments were appraised by a competent jury lead by the musical director of Kassel court and composer Louis Spohr: 'The work done on the three instruments is constantly excellent either with the wood as with the brass and the silver...'

A few years later the Hessen Elector deputised him as a maker of musical instruments at Kassel court. In the accounting books that can be traced back to 1828 5559 instruments can be found up to his death (1871): 2422 flutes, additionally 24 csakans (stick flutes) and 17 flageolets (two of them double flageolets), 2839 clarinets, 216 bassoons, 37 oboes and four basset horns. There are also some brass instruments found in these books. His clientele was reaching out across the German borders up to America. It is almost impossible that he has made all these instrument on his own. At first his sons will have assisted him. The two oldest sons started up workshops on their own later - Valentin Mollenhauer as a maker aof brass instruments in Fulda and Gustav Mollenhauer as a maker of woodwind and brass instruments in Kassel (worldwide known for his double-reed instruments today). His son Thomas Mollenhauer (1840-1914) was found a gifted successor for the workshop J. Mollenhauer & sons in Fulda. Thomas also tried to expand knowledge abroad after he had finished his apprenticeship he attended in his father's workshop.

The Boehm flute
Being open-minded for everything new within making musical instruments, Thomas learned by chance to make the new developed cylindric flute and its complicated key system at the workshop of Theobald Böhm in Munich in 1863-64. After one year he returned to Fulda but stayed friends with Theobald Böhm, and a short time later he sent his first 'Böhm'sche Flöte' to America. Following the Böhm system he developed an own alto flute and improved - according to the advice of aged Böhm - the deficient Böhm piccolo successfully. Theobald Böhm - having many problems with the acceptance of his new flute construction - uttered in a letter to young Mollenhauer his delight about the business activity in support of his invention. 'Thomas is not restricting his activity to the making of flutes,' as a fondly compiled detailed chronicle by his grandson Otto M. states.
After one year there he returned to Fulda and in a short time delivered his first "Böhm-type" flute to a customer in America.
	He then designed and constructed an alto flute according to the Böhm system and, at the suggestion of the now aged master, improved the Böhm piccolo.
At first there was resistance to the new flute construction and in a letter dated 24 Aug. 1878 Theobald Böhm expressed his satisfaction with the young
Mollenhauer’s efforts to promote the invention. However, Thomas did not restrict himself to building only flutes. He must have possessed exceptional energy and ambition in these early professional years. He thus applied the techniques learned from building flutes to the construction of clarinets. At the Paris world exposition in 1867 at the age of only 27 he presented his "Thomas Mollenhauer system clarinet with completely covered tone holes and a highly developed key mechanism. The various medals and awards granted him in this period (Paris 1867, Wittenberg 1869, Vienna 1873, and Berlin 1898) attest to the high regard which his workshop with its 10 employees enjoyed.

	Gold from America
The following sons Josef (1875-1964) and Conrad (1876-1943) were able to continue the series of successes. Both of them had been trained in their father’s workshop. For further training Joseph then went to the bassoon factory of Heckel in Wiesbaden and Conrad to the flute factory of E. Rittershausen in Berlin. Thereafter Conrad visited some workshops in Markneukirchen/Vogtland (Thuringia) where he investigated the for those times modern and cost-effective production methods of home subcontractors and factories. Upon returning to Fulda Conrad thoroughly modernized his workshop and started to specialize in the construction of Böhm flutes and piccolos. Presumably his passion for playing the flue led him in this direction. His brother Josef, on the other hand, turned to the construction of clarinets and trumpets. The breakthrough on the American market took place after the flutes from their workshop received a gold medal at the World Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. Then in 1912 Conrad left his father’s company and set up his own workshop in Fulda which, however, did not survive the events of the two world wars.

New start with the recorder

Directly after the second world war Thomas Mollenhauer (1908-1953) seized the initiative and began the manufacture of recorders in his father’s workshop which continued under the name CONRAD MOLLENHAUER. With the help of instrument makers who fled from East Germany, he set up a partly industrial, partly artesian production with machinery which the workers developed and built themselves. In the newly formed and expansive Federal Republic the recorder enjoyed an unexpected boom. From the very beginning Thomas worked together with the BÄRENREITER music publishing house for which he manufactured large quantities of recorders. At the same time his own models "Student" and "Solist" found a lot of resonance. The production of the metal transverse flutes of the father (who died during the war) was carried on as a sideline. Unfortunately Thomas died early at the age of 45 in 1953. His wife Rosel Mollenhauer then carried on successfully with the help of dedicated company employees.

In the following years, due to the increasing demands of the market concerning quality, the company started to build recorders according original instruments from the renaissance and baroque periods using models of the masters Kynseker and Denner. The experience gained thereby were applied also in the manufacture of the large scale production of school and amateur recorders. The MOLLENHAUER brand thus acquired more and more international renown. The capabilities acquired in the construction of the Böhm metal flutes permit the development of fully keyed recorders for handicapped players.

Social challenge
Now I can tell you something about myself. I am Bernard Mollenhauer, born in 1944, and I have taken over the management of the family business.
As with my forbears, musical instruments are at the same time my business and my hobby. In the 1960’s I was trained in instrument making in my parents’ workshop. I gathered foreign experience in Vienna, in the USA, and in the Far East. In 1970 I was granted my master’s certificate by the Stuttgart chamber of commerce on the basis of a Böhm flute which I made, after which I took over the management of CONRAD MOLLENHAUER Recorders GmbH. Theses days, however, it is not enough to take care of production. I feel also the need to concern myself with the social aspects of the enterprise. Especially younger co-workers are looking for more than professional development. They also want to be involved in the management process. Within the framework of this general development in our society a group of engaged and responsible co-workers has come together in our company. Together with these mostly younger employees I have created a new company form based largely on the proposals of Rudolf Steiner concerning associated business management. From our conviction in the validity of this initiative we try to combine our social ideals with economic reality. Maybe someday one of my own children may decide to join this circle.

Innovation from tradition
If we look back on the events of the recent years for the MOLLENHAUER company, we can note the following achievements: 1984 - The STIFTUNG WARENTEST consumer product testing service choose our STUDENT 1003 as the best of all comparably priced school recorders. 1991 - We publish the progressive soprano recorder method "Blockflötensprache und Klanggeschichten (The language of the recorder and sound stories) in cooperation with the authors Gisela Roth and Christa Ralf. The book has since been expanded under the same title into a 5 volume teaching method for individual and group recorder instruction which was published in 1997 by the Bärenreiter Publishing House. 1994 - We are the first recorder manufacturers in the world to introduce environmentally friendly techniques into our series manufacturing processes. At the same time we stop using non-recyclable packing materials and change to natural products. 1995 - We are the first recorder manufacturers in the world to put the Panda seal of the WWF Environmental Foundation on one of our models (the "Fair Play") in order to make a contribution to more responsible management of our rain forests.. 1995 - The MOLLENHAUER company adopts a new logo consisting of two facing half-circles which are intended to be more than just an easy to remember symbol. They represent the basic philosophy of our company which strives to serve the social interests of the person confronting us in order to arrive together at a synthesis. Towards the outside world this is expressed in the relationships with our suppliers, dealers and the consumers of our products. Inside the company this is reflected in the contracts which determine the relationship of the employees to the company. 1995 - We introduce the PRIMA modal with combination of a plastic head piece and a wooden body. This recorder with its excellent sound characteristics was designed by Topel/Pauser and awarded in the same year a prize and iF-seal for good design by an international jury. 1996 - We add the Swing model consisting of the plastic Prima head-piece and a plastic body which was designated shortly thereafter "Product of the Year" by the FvKK plastic materials professional organization. 1995 - Together with the Dutch recorder maker Maarten Helder we develop a new tenor recorder with unusual dynamic possibilities and a playable range of up to 3 octaves, and which is intended for contemporary music and jazz. In 1997 Maarten Helder presents an alto recorder designed according to the same principles at the Frankfurter Music Instrument Show. 1996 - We assume the patent of A. Strathmann’s adjustable block which we incorporate into the higher level alto models. 1996 - We begin a cooperative project with the recorder maker from Tübingen Joachim Paetzold and the recorder player Nikolaij Tarasov in order to produce a modern alto recorder with enriched tonality and expanded range at an affordable price. 1997 - The PRIMA alto recorder with plastic head piece and wooden body joins the PRIMA soprano. 1997 - Our hand made Böhm flutes receive international recognition. Their new, conically formed foot piece permits improving the intonation of the lower notes, increasing the range in the 3^rd octave, and increasing the overall volume of the instrument.
1999 - the Denner soprano recorder (pearwood) Mollenhauer wins the "German Musical Instrument award". "Best instrument. Much better than the competitors..." (jury)
These high points clearly show that our company, even after 175 years of activity, remains as dynamic and open to new ideas as ever. In this spirit and with unflagging enthusiasm we have also launched the magazine "Windkanal" as a forum for recorder builders, teachers, and players around the world. We hope you will contribute your own enthusiasm and take part in these projects. Yours Conrad Mollenhauer GmbH Weichselstraße 27 D-36043 Fulda Tel: +49 (0)661 9467 0 Fax: +49 (0)661 9467 36 mailto:info@mollenhauer.com http://www.mollenhauer.com