Adolf Waldmann

Adolf Waldmann (* 1889 in Pforzheim ; † 1964 there ) was a German entrepreneur and inventor .

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In 1918, Adolf Waldmann founded the Waldmann Manufactory , today Adolf Waldmann KG. Here, after the First World War, he manufactured mechanical pencils and mechanical pencils from sterling silver . This was something unusual and special at the time. The company was then located in Maximilianstrasse in Pforzheim .

In the 1930s, Waldmann developed the first four-color mechanical pencil , which worked on the principle of the revolver mechanism, and secured worldwide patent rights for it. At the Paris World Exhibition in 1937 , he was awarded the silver medal for “exceptional design and function of a 4-color mechanical pencil” for this innovation.

In the course of the bombing of the city of Pforzheim on February 23, 1945 , the Waldmann factory was completely destroyed. After a difficult reconstruction, production was resumed. From 1956 Waldmann added writing instruments made of brass, silver, rolled gold doublé and 18 ct. Gold to its product range. In 1958 he was granted worldwide patents for 2- and 4-color ballpoint pens with a rotating system.

In 1959, Waldmann created a special collection for Rotring Germany, the then market leader in the drawing and painting utensils segment. Waldmann writing instruments were sold under the name Rotring. Within a very short time, Rotring was Waldmann's main customer, accounting for 75 percent of production.

Adolf Waldmann died in Pforzheim in 1964 at the age of 76.

Companies

The Pforzheim manufactory worked for the Rotring brand for decades. After a few changes of ownership, the name Waldmann was reactivated at the end of the 1990s. Waldmann Manufaktur's new headquarters are in Birkenfeld near Pforzheim. All writing implements are made of solid silver, around 70 percent of the work process is manual work.

Web links

• Web presence of Adolf Waldmann KG
• Monika Schramm: Embellished writing implements: Writing is silver , Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , July 24, 2016