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together with her seven-year-younger brother Matthäus Andreas Stein (1776–
1842), founded a piano building workshop. The siblings separated in 1802,
however. Around this time Nannette Streicher, in her early thirties, had
already made a reputation in her trade and has since been considered the
first female piano builder in history (fig. 2). Ten years later, the firm exported
on a grand scale to all lands of the monarchy, to Germany, and to Italy.
Pianos of the same construction type as that presented here were also owned
by Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(1749–1832). Nannette Streicher was befriended with Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770–1827) and later saw to his household.
Her son Johann Baptist (1796–1871), who received a broad education and
cosmopolitan upbringing, led the company to an international reputation
that lasted until the mid-nineteenth century (see family tree above).

The fortepiano SAM 844 with the opus number 961 was donated to the
Collection of Historic Musical Instruments in 1991 by the Bösendorfer
company, which had previously possessed a small collection of historic
keyboard instruments. The provenance before this period with Bösendorfer
can unfortunately no longer be traced due to a lack of documentation. In
the spring of 2013, on the occasion of the 200-year jubilee of its production,
the restoration of the Nannette Streicher fortepiano was declared a focus
project.1

1	 Through the unforeseen turbulence around the House of Austrian History, the

completion of the extensive restoration project was delayed until 2017, however.
Because of the renovation works in the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments,
which were divided into two phases, the conservation report could only be
submitted in 2019.

3. THE NANNETTE STREICHER  
	 PIANO

Johann Georg Andreas Stein

1728–1792

Anna Maria Stein

1769–1833

Johann Baptist Streicher

1796–1871

Maria Regina
Burkhard1742–1800

Johann Andreas Streicher

1761–1833

1st

marriage Auguste André
2nd

marriage Friederike Müller

  4 children: Anna Maria, Matthäus Andreas,
  Johann Heinrich, Andreas Friedrich

  2 children: Johann Baptist, Sophie

Fig. 2: Portrait of Nannette Streicher,
anonymous. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Collection of Historic Musical
Instruments, inv. no. SAM 734.

Ina Hoheisel and Alfons Huber

The piano builder family Stein-Streicher