7 generations

Franz Ambros Alexander came from an old French Huguenot family. In 1782 he relocated from Miltenberg am Main to Mainz, where he was accepted into the Craftsmen’s Guild and established a small workshop for the making of musical instruments.

After the death of Franz Ambros, his widow and her sons Claudius, Martin and Philipp took over the business. In 1826 the trained woodwind builder Kaspar Anton Alexander returned to the company.

In this period the manufacturing of woodwind instruments took on particular importance and a shop for the sale of Alexanders own products was established.

Beginning in 1864 Franz Anton, an excellent technician and musician, is working for the company. The younger Georg Philipp spent 5 years in Saxony, Vienna and Prague learning the art of brass instrument making.

Richard Wagner contacted Gebr. Alexander in 1862 while searching for a new tone color which the known instruments of that time could not provide. In cooperation with Gebr. Alexander the Wagnertuba was developed. In 1872 Georg Philipp joined the company alongside his brother and business boomed due to the increasing importance of the manufacturing of brass instruments.

1909 marked an important milestone in companys history with the development of the first full double horn, the Model 103. This patent marked the beginning of rapid development in horn design.

In 1913 Friedrich Sebastian Anton died and Georg Philipp jr. fell at Verdun in 1916. Their widows and the aged Franz Anton piloted the business through the First World War and the difficult years that followed.

Philipp Johann Christoph took over the company in 1925. Years of worldwide financial catastrophe lay in the future. With great personal commitment he survived these years as well as the following world war. The Second World War destroyed everything that the previous five generations had built.

The business acumen of Philipp Johann Christoph and the determination of the employees who had survived the war and returned from detention, enabled the company to swiftly recover its former significance.

After the death of his father in 1971, Anton Julius became director of the now internationally respected company. The brass instrument master craftsman gained experience in travels across the globe and new knowledge through personal contact with leading musicians.

The excellent quality of the manufactured instruments was further improved by Anton Julius and his highly skilled team.

In 1987 the son of Anton Julius Alexander joined the business. 12 years later, in 1999, Georg Philipp became its director, leading the now more than 200-year-old company into the 21st century.

New technologies and their potential in the development and design of brass instruments are currently shaping the 3rd century of the companys history.

1st Generation

2nd Generation

3rd Generation

4th Generation

5th Generation

6th Generation

7th Generation