Musikhaus Thomann: What is now a billion-dollar logistics center and retailer of musical instruments and equipment began as a traditional music store in the idyllic Upper Franconian village of Treppendorf, Germany. Thomann now celebrates a memorable anniversary with the 100th birthday of company founder Hans Thomann Senior.
There is no doubt that music and music-making have always been at the heart of the company. And I’m certainly not the only one who feels this way when visiting Musikhaus Thomann. Here, music and above all the enthusiasm and devotion to good musical instruments come alive. Not only did the passionate work of company founder Hans Thomann Sr. exemplify this spirit every day, but it is still present throughout the Thomann campus today.
Hans Thomann Sr. was born in 1922 to a farming family in Treppendorf, Germany. While (making) music was rather the exception at that time, he still discovered his passion for it at an early age and learned to play various instruments. Above all, he loved to play the trumpet. He went on to found a music store, initially as a traveling business. After working on his family’s farm, he would ride his motorcycle to meet bands rehearsing in pubs and basements. Always carrying many musical instruments with him, he was already a successful salesman at that time.
Hans Thomann Senior built up a good reputation on his travels, and his customers later enjoyed coming to his music shop in Treppendorf, which he founded in 1954. With the business continuously growing, he eventually had to expand the shop to meet increasing demands. As a result, more and more customers flocked to the small village of Treppendorf. Despite his success, Hans Thomann Senior always stayed down-to-earth – a valuable quality he passed on to his children.
In 1990, Hans Thomann Junior took over the management of the company and has been responsible for the growing music business ever since. He was joined by his four siblings, all of whom are still with the company today. And Hans Thomann Senior? Retirement seemed a foreign word to him because even after handing over Musikhaus Thomann to his children, he was still in the thick of things every day.
When Musikhaus Thomann launched the first online store for musical instruments in 1996, the musical instrument industry was the butt of many jokes: “Buying a musical instrument online? What nonsense … you don’t order an acoustic guitar, for example, from a catalog, you have to try it out!” “No!”… It was generally agreed (at least in 1996) that the Internet would never catch on for musical instruments.
Not only have the industry’s prophecies of doom at that time long since faded, but in the 2000s a development began that led to what we know and appreciate today as Musikhaus Thomann: Recently a billion-dollar company, Thomann is the number one music retailer with the most modern logistics and service department.
Hans Thomann Senior passed away in 2004; he would have been 100 years old on February 26, 2022. He left behind a flourishing company and would surely be proud of what his children have made of it in his absence.
The PIANOO team would like to thank him and congratulate him on his jubilee.
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