our 300 year history

A HISTORY OF FRAMES: the unauthorized Gasenzer story… a trend is born.

1215—AUGUST GASENZER
Legend has it that, after King John signed the Magna Carta, which literally means “Big Map,” he was so overwhelmed by its contents, he took his copy and got it framed.  Knowing only the best craftsmanship would do for such an historical document, he made the trip to the “continent,” to the Duchy of Swabia and sought out August Gasenzer, the official glazier of the Holy Roman Empire.

1455—ARNWALT GASENZER
Johannes Gutenberg invents the Printing Press, on the advice of Arnwalt Gasenzer, who saw the growth potential of frames; if only there were a way to mass produce stuff that people wanted to hang (besides heretics)!  Printing takes off in a big way, the first flyers are invented, and Gutenberg, for creating a revolution of sorts, was remembered as a pioneer.

1665—WERNER GASENZER
Sir Isaac Newton, upon observing a cheaply hung diploma come crashing to the floor of his office at Cambridge, discovered the Law of Gravity, and vowed to see Werner Gasenzer next time he was bestowed an honorary degree!

1866—HEINRICH GASENZER
Fyodor Dostoyevsky completes Crime & Punishment.  His second wife, Anna Snitkin, who was also his stenographer, takes a copy as a memento to Heinrich Gasenzer at the East Prussian Chamber of Glaziers to be framed.  Heinrich takes a quick read and tells her it’s good; he’ll send it to a friend in the publishing business.  Crime & Punishment turns out to be one of the greatest novels of all time!  Fact meets fiction?…

Ok, Heinrich may not really have helped Fyodor, but Heinrich DID exist, and he was a framer and he is the great grandfather of Jeff Gasenzer, who today‘s the “heart and soul” of Gallery Framers Wholesale/Fleet Galleries in Winnipeg, Canada.  ONE THING IS CERTAIN, we know that the Gasenzer family has been helping people take care of, and preserve their important works of art, at least as far back as 1866.  And that’s a fact you can hang your hat on!

Whether it’s your living room, boardroom, or gallery, at Fleet Galleries, we can make your art work!