Music publisher; born in Königsee, Germany. Emigrating to America with his family in 1840, he worked in various New York City music-publishing firms before acquiring his own in 1861; in 1866 he renamed it G. Schirmer and it went on to become one of the great international music publishers. A musician himself, he was noted for promoting American musicians while also publishing the new European composers of his day such as Wagner and Tchaikovsky; he gave generously to help Wagner build his Festspielhaus in Bayreuth.