Congas - Meinl Percussion

In Memoriam Roland MeinlRoland Meinl, founder of Roland Meinl Musikinstrumente, a pioneer in the art of cymbal and percussion manufacturing,known and appreciated as an outstanding businessman, passed away on December 04, 2007 at the age of 78.Roland Meinl was born on March 04, 1929 in Silberbach, Sudetenland, as the oldest child of Emil and Hedwig Meinl.After attending elementary and business school, Roland served in the military at the age of 16 during the lastdays of World War II. After his military service, Roland began an apprenticeship as a wind instrument maker inGrasslitz, which was interrupted because of his family’s relocation to a small city named Rimpar near Würzburgafter the war.There he began a business apprenticeship, which upon completion his family moved to Neustadt a. d. Aisch wherehe founded the Roland Meinl Musikinstrumente company in 1951. That is when he began to produce Meinl cymbals. In1964 the company’s first employee was hired and in 1969 a new company building was constructed. During the 70’s,Roland built up and developed the cymbal production, while at the same time establishing the company’s distributionbusiness, becoming a strong wholesale partner for music retailers in Germany and Austria. In 1978 he foundedMeinl’s first percussion factory in Thailand and began introducing the full range of Meinl percussion instruments.Many groundbreaking innovations in the cymbal and percussion world, which are still applied to this day, wereinvented by Roland Meinl. His relentless and hard work laid the foundation for his company’s current success asone of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of musical instruments.After his son Reinhold began working with the company in 1972, Roland continued to be involved in all of the company’soperations. As long as he lived, his presence, sense of humor, and magnanimity were always felt among allMeinl’s employees, who as a result always held him in high esteem. His life’s story is inseparably connectedwith the success of his company.