German firm of harpsichord and piano makers. Karl Maendler (b Munich, 22 March 1872; d Munich, 2 Aug 1958) began as a piano maker. He married Susanne Schramm, daughter of M.J. Schramm, and on 1 April 1903 became the sole owner of his father-in-law's piano firm in Munich. It is probable that the firm had already produced harpsichords (one labelled ‘M.J. Schramm’ is known to exist), but Maendler built up this side of the business, producing his first harpsichord in 1907, and continuing to make harpsichords, clavichords and pianos until he went blind in 1956. The business then passed to Ernst Zucker. Maendler's main output was of heavily built, mass-produced instruments; he also built harpsichords to the so-called ‘Bach disposition’ (see Bach harpsichord); he also used a metal frame which Zucker called Panzerplatte. In the 1920s he developed the Bachklavier, an attempt at a harpsichord capable of admitting touch dynamics. On the other hand, the Händel-Haus at Halle has a Maendler-Schramm harpsichord of 1939 which, except for the typical German pedal mechanism, appears to be a careful copy of a Shudi of 1770.
J. Wörsching: Die historischen Saitenklaviere und der moderne Klavichord- und Cembalo Bau (Mainz, 1946)
K. Sasse: Katalog zu den Sammlungen des Händel-Hauses in Halle, v: Musikinstrumentensammlung besaitete Tasteninstrumente (Halle, 1966)
W.J. Zuckermann: The Modern Harpsichord (New York, 1969)
H. Henkel: Besaitete Tasteninstrumente (Frankfurt, 1994)
MARGARET CRANMER