1861
Company founding
1869
“Lefima” receives the bronze medal at a trade show in Wittenberg
1879
“Lefima” obtains the Second Class Diplom on the “Exhibition for fire service equipment” in Altenburg
1890
“Lefima” obtains a commendation during a visit to the world exposition in Paris
1897
“Lefima” obtains the silver medal of the Saxonian-Thuringian trade exhibition in Leipzig
1922
“Lefima” fabricates first concert machine timpani
1927
“Lefima’s” own cymbal manufacture under the brand “Sultan”
1930
First Double Snare Drum with “REFORM” strainer (D.R.G.M.)
1939
Manufacture of first drum sets
1957
Manufacture of first Orff instruments
1959
Development of the “Rekord“ pedal
1961
Lefima moves to Cham, Bavaria
1973
A new factory building is erected
1981
Manufacture of the Voyager Pedal Timpani
1984
Development of the movable infinitely adjustable universal stands for mallet instruments and drums for all sizes. Design of a parallel action strainer for Double-snare drums
1985
Development of the “Berlin” model Concert Pedal Timpani
1988
Development of the Brush-System for concert snare drums. It diminishes the overtones without affecting its tonal character.
1992
Mit dem Brush-Ring, einem unter das Schlagfell gelegten Ring aus feinsten Federdrähtchen, steht erstmalig ein Obertonfilter für Marching Snare Drums zur Verfügung. Er stellt im Prinzip eine preiswerte Variante des Brush-Systems dar.
1992
With the Brush-Ring first an overtone filter for marching drums is available. It’s a variant of the Brush-System in principle. The infinitely adjustable Plug & Play carrier system is issued
1993
Development of the Snap-on System. It clamps accessories vibration-neutral at the drum rim.
1993
Built of a new production hall.
1994
With the “Bio-Line” orff instruments “Lefima” dispenses the use of exotic woods.
1995
Development of a centric fixing system for drum stands
1995
Development of the “adjuster” for drum stands which enables the adjusting of the fixing levers according to different drum diameters between 12” and 16” by a flick of the hand.
1995
The PGL2 glockenspiel with hi-hat damper is built
1996
Development of the first foot-finetuner for concert timpani, an innovations jump like the step from machine to pedal timpani at that time. The intonation can even be corrected at a ppp to fff roll; the hand-finetuner becomes needless.
1997
The VPS-system (variable positioning system) enables the adjustment of on the one hand the distances among each other and on the other the setup of an equal playing front.
1998
Built of a new lacquering plant.
1998
Development of a servo assistance unit for concert timpani, which reduces or neutralizes the forces on the mechanics caused by the head tension.
1998
Thus, the timpanist is aided importantly by pedaling or finetuning.
2000
Lefima obtains the Bavarian State Award in Gold
2000
The ultra-light Marching Drum Series sets a completely new trend in the field of marching instruments. Lefima can reduce the weight of a bass drum with a similar comparable to the two- to fourfold.
2001
Lefima obtains a Guinness-book-of-Records certificate for the World’s lightest marching drum.
2002
The unique Belted timpani enables very fast tuning due to its completely original centric fine - tuning mechanism that enables the easy use of natural skin heads.
2002
In Baroque music belted timpani are beginning to displace the more antiquated the screw-tuned timpani.
2003
Lefima issues an original replica of the “Dresden timpani”.
2004
Development of the “unbeatable” rim protector for wooden drum rims. A special treatment makes the edge of a drum rim almost impact resistant like steel.
2004
Construction of the lightest High-tension Snare Drum with a completely new design of strainer underneath the batter head.
2004
With the acknowledgement of the Bavarian Innovation Prize, “Lefima” belongs to the 11 most innovative companies in Bavaria.
2005
With the automatic castor system Lefima sets again an international benchmark. During transportation or for quick and easy set-up changes, a concert timpani can be effortlessly placed on 4 castors with a small foot lever.
2005
Design of tunable concert tambourines
2006
Built of a new production hall. The “Virtuos” timpani enters the market
2007
Lefima makes her ultra-light marching drums again 15% lighter.
2007
Special horse timpani and Power-BUL, a version of the ultra-light Bass Drum, is issued.
2008
Development of a Davul with separately tensionable heads.
2008
Screw-tuned timpani made from a special aluminium alloy tie in with archetypes from the British Museum or the green vaults in Dresden and weigh half of conventional variants.
2009
Delivery of the millionth drum in Cham.
2011
To mark the 150th company anniversary, Lefima breaks new ground with the “Carbo Drum”: The vanguard design with recessed rims is in the fore. The use of carbon fiber gives the drum great robustness but also an incredibly low weight, which is even about 15 percent lower than that the ultra-light series.
2011
On 26th October, 2011 the family business Lefima becomes 150 years old. As before, customer intimacy, individuality and innovation are the central theme of the company philosophy.