Trade Regrets: Martin König

He was the driving force behind many of the ideas that made the long established brand König & Meyer what it is today.  Martin König, one of the major players in the German music instrument industry (and subsequent global landscape), has left us a few days before his 87th birthday.

Martin König remained a managing partner of König & Meyer until the end.  He joined the König & Meyer company, founded by his father Karl König and Erich Meyer in Wertheim, Germany, in 1950. Martin König initially completed an apprenticeship as a toolmaker, scoring the highest marks in the trading association’s final exam. He then went to university in Mannheim, where he studied mechanical engineering from 1957 until 1961. After his graduation, he initially worked for the companies Philipps and BASF.

In 1965, he rejoined König & Meyer as general manager. Following his father’s untimely death in 1967, he became joint CEO of the company. Together with Erich Meyer, he continued to build the business and to steadily expand its product palette, workforce and production facilities. Martin König was particularly interested in the development of innovative products, the improvement of the production processes as well as the modernization and expansion of production capacities. He was involved in the development of numerous innovations in the music area, many of which were patented. Typical examples are the classic music stand 101 or the microphone stand 210/2, as well as instrument stands that can be stored inside the bell or a ring lock mechanism for stabilizing speakers.

Martin König always promoted team spirit, the human touch and a good, open corporate culture; his other priorities included providing secure employment and supporting the next workforce generation. With his high level of personal commitment, a far-sighted approach to running the business and a cosmopolitan outlook, he paved the way for the company to rise to its current status of one of the world leaders in this area.

In 1996, Wertheim awarded Martin König a silver medal of honor in recognition of his success and services to the town. Although he began to gradually withdraw from the day-to-day business operations in 2005, the company still benefited from his experience, and he continued to represent it as one of its chief executives. He was one of the founding members and a member of the executive board of the National Association of German Musical Instruments Manufacturers (BDMH), and kept his finger on the pulse of the latest developments in the industry as a member of the Musikmesse trade exhibition advisory board. In April 2015, he was awarded the “MIPA Lifetime Achievement Award” (Musikmesse International Press Award) in honor of a lifetime dedicated to the music industry.