Petrof is a Czech piano manufacturer founded in 1864. It is the leading European piano manufacturer, exporting to more than 60 countries.
The company was founded in 1864 in Hradec Králové, Kingdom of Bohemia, by Antonín Petrof (d. 1915), who had apprenticed at Viennese companies such as Heintzman & Co., Friedrich Ehrbar and Schweighofer.
The owner Antonín Petrof was awarded an imperial and royal warrant of appointment to the court of Austria-Hungary. In 1924 the company was exporting its pianos to Europe, Japan, China, Australia and South America.
At the World Exhibition 1934 in Brussels, the Petrof instruments won the gold medal. At that time, approximately 400 people worked at their factory.
In 1948, Petrof was nationalized. The company was returned to the Petrof family in 1991. Petrof is currently led by two sisters from the fifth generation of the Petrof family and produces annually approximately 2,000 grand pianos and 12,000 upright pianos. Petrof is known for several innovations, such as ways to adjust the mechanics and particularly pressure point through magnetic systems.
Learn more at Petrof USA Home (petrof-usa.com)
Piano manufacturing is, by its nature, a materials-intensive craft. A modern grand piano contains roughly 12,000 individual components. It requires carefully selected hardwoods — spruce, maple, beech, walnut — sourced from forests in multiple countries. It uses felt, leather, metal alloys, and chemical finishes. Building one well takes skilled labor spanning months.
In January 2026, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas included something that would have seemed out of place a decade ago: a piano technology exhibit generating genuine buzz alongside the televisions, smartphones, and AI gadgets that dominate the show floor. The products on display — connected instruments, app-integrated learning systems, multi-device MIDI setups — weren't novelties. They were the direction the piano industry is heading.
For years, the piano world operated on a fairly clean division: acoustic instruments for those who could afford the space and maintenance, digital pianos for everyone else. That division has been eroding steadily, and by 2026, it has given way to something more interesting — a category of instruments that refuses to sit neatly on either side of the line.
