The firm of Ed. Kruspe was established in Erfurt, Germany in 1864 by Johann Eduard Kruspe (1831-1919), elder son of Carl Kruspe (1808 - 1885). Carl Kruspe had established his workshop originally in Mühlhausen in Thüringen (1829 - 1836) then Erfurt (1836 - after 1930) for the manufacture of brass and woodwind instruments. Rather than going into business with his father, Eduard established his own workshop as successor to Carl Zielsdorf. In 1893 operation of the firm was turned over to Eduard's son, Fritz Kruspe (ca. 1862 - 1909) and has continued to the present under the name Ed. Kruspe.

The simple label is common on earlier brass instruments from Kruspe. This horn is believed to be from the workshop of Eduard Kruspe but does not bear the name "Ed." as found on later instruments. It perhaps also predates the appointment as "Hoflieferant" (purveyor to the Court) as indicated on labels from the late nineteeth and early twentieth centuries.

The very elegant valve finger plates suggest an early date. The plates on Kruspe rotary valve instruments from the last decade of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century were more commonly simple circles. An unmarked compensating double horn (probably also by Kruspe) exists with the same valve mechanism. Note also the unusual keepers for the valve springs. The mechanical linkages to the rotors are typical of Kruspe rotary valve instruments from the period.

The two patches on the bell interior indicate that the horn was played extensively over a period of time, perhaps professionally, and considered worth repair. (Compare these with the patches on the bell of the Kruspe Modell Horner used for forty years by Mason Jones. Note also the patch on the bell's exterior (top left photo) probably as a result of the player's thumb nail wearing through bell throat.