B&S is actually a short form of the: VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik (B&S), which was created on January 1, 1953. It was formed through the merger of 3 VEBs: the Sächsische Musikinstrumentenfabrik (formerly Ernst Heß Nachf.); the Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik Markneukirchen (Max B. Martin); and the Vogtländische Etuifabrik Adorf (Walther).
VEB means Volkseigener Betrieb, the legal form of an industrial enterprise in East Germany. These were publicly owned and were routinely combined with other organizational units called Kombinate. The English term for a VEB would be people-owned enterprise, or literally, National Corporation. 1
In 1974, 3 more firms came under the B&S umbrella. These were: Sonora (formerly Oscar Adler); Spezial-Holzblasinstrumente Markneukirchen (Mönnig); and Holzblasinstrumente Schöneck (G. H. Hüller). Finally in 1984, the 7th, and final, firm was added to B&S: Sinfonia.
B&S saxophones brands
This section of the site deals with the saxophones sold after the creation of the VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik (B&S). Although the VEB made saxophones under a great many names—especially when it came to stencils—this section will focus on the main saxophones that B&S produced, and includes the following sections:
- Akustik
- Weltklang
- Weltklang Baritone Saxophones
- Weltklang promotional folder from 1980 – contains all the saxes and brass winds Weltklang was manufacturing at the time.
- B&S (“Blue Label”)
- Weltklang vs Blue Label Baritones
Note for 2025
It should go without saying that this section, like the rest of the site, is a work in progress. As more of the site gets restored, more pages and links will appear. 
1 Source: The Free Dictionary