History
Wurlitzer Model 805 electronic organ with Orbit III Monophonic Synthesizer (upper key)Wurlitzer started in Cincinnati in 1856 by Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831–1914). It was directed successively by his three sons until 1941, when it moved to Chicago. From importing musical instruments it turned in the 1880s to marketing automated instruments, including disc-changer machines and coin-operated pianos.
The "Mighty Wurlitzer" theatre organ was introduced in 1910, followed by the successful coin-operated phonograph, or juke-box (1934–74). In 1909 the company began making harps that were far more durable than European prototypes, and from 1924 to the 1930s eight acclaimed models were available.
The firm's violin department, independently directed by Rembert Wurlitzer (1904–63) from 1949, became a leading international centre for rare string instruments. Among Wurlitzer's electronic instruments, beginning with electric reed organs in 1947, the most important have been the fully electronic organs, especially the two-manual-and-pedals spinet type (from 1971 with synthesizer features) for domestic use.
The Wurlitzer Company came to an end in 1988, when Wurlitzer was bought by the Baldwin Piano Company. Baldwin outsourced their Wurlitzer production and stopped placing the Wurlitzer name on pianos at the end of 2009.
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