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I encountered today the smallest grand I ever seen, a Danemann 4 feet - 124cm.
It is in great condition, and asking only for $1750, and I heard it is a reputable piano maker back in the day.
I certainly understand any grand under 5 1/2 feet would be a great compromise, but I am tempted.
Would it be a good buy for an apartment?

I could be wrong but I recall reading here that these were made in Ireland and did not have a good reputation.
Ian

You ask "would it be a good buy for an apartment?". Possibly, if you want it primarily for its appearance, but if you actually want to play it and are selecting on the basis of musical potential - a decent upright should be much more capable.

Danemann was a good brand. Did you play it? Only you among us has actually seen and heard it. What did you think of it?

No they're not the notorious Irish pianos! I know the instrument you mean, it's called a Lindler or a Linder or something.

Danemann were a solid English brand, similar to Chappell, Challen, Knight, Kemble, that kind of thing. The Danemann was probably a little bit above the others in terms of quality.

This piano is certainly old, and a 124cm grand will mean that the scale design is not as good as a 118cm upright, it's more like a compact upright.

Lindner was made in Ireland. The grands were weird, but okay. The verticals were a disaster which took down the company.

Lindner that’s it

I think I can benefit from the grand action as well.
And the size and price is not a lot more than any upright piano.
It is quite mellow and quiet, which is a good thing as a practice instrument, of course the bass and bass intonation is nothing to write about.
It sounded darker than the Zimmerman they have there and of course Yamaha and Kawai.
It doesn't look really old, maybe they have refurbished it, I heard that they made piano up to the 80's, I hope it wasn't made earlier than 60's or 70's.

The style of the plate design, especially the font used for the brand name, screams art-deco period. I would wager that it is old, but has been refurbished/refinished.

There is a possibility, but it is uncommon to have a piano before WWII to survive in this part of the world.

I see if I can negotiate with them again.

I have seen a couple of 4 foot grands that were made by American manufacturers, like Janssen, probably in the 1930s. They were actually fairly nice sounding pianos. The tails were very broad, so that allowed for some pretty long bass strings, but that made them very strange looking. In the range of baby grands, I guess these would have been neonates.

Joseph,
Thanks for correcting me. I posted without checking my memory. You are correct about the true culprit.
Ian