Each Bechstein grand piano takes up to 500 man-hours to build over the course of a year.

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Bechstein, a piano-maker, which shows just how far German companies will go in order to maintain quality.

ECONOMIST: Germany's export champions

In an anonymous old building, at the top of too many flights of stairs, a door opened to reveal a tall lady, a Bechstein piano and two Siamese cats.

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The family eventually sold out completely, but Bechstein's decline could not be halted and a decade ago it had to be rescued from bankruptcy by the city of Berlin.

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Helene Bechstein, one of that manufacturer's co-owners, was a great supporter of the Nazis, which is why part of the Bechstein firm was confiscated during the denazification of corporate Germany at the end of the war.

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For example, one gleaning bat species, the Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii), is less likely to cross roads than other bat species that forage in open areas, suggesting the noise of the traffic could fragment their hunting grounds.

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Bechstein is broadening its product range.

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