Carl Fromme

Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 12.8 ″  N , 16 ° 21 ′ 46.1 ″  E

The founder Carl Fromme

The Carl Fromme company was a Viennese book publisher and supplier to the royal court . The address was first in the 2nd district Leopoldstadt and then in the Nikolsdorfer Gasse 7-11 in the 5th district.

history

The founder Carl Ludwig Franz Wilhelm Fromme (also written as Karl Fromme ) (* August 24, 1828 in Harburg an der Elbe ; † September 28, 1884 ) started an apprenticeship at Hoffmann & Campe in Hamburg in 1843 , after which he was until 1851 still active there. He then worked in A. Hauptmann's bookstore in Brno , but after only a year he switched to Tendler & Co. in Vienna , as he was offered a job there. In 1853 he took over this business together with Silvester Pötzelberger. In 1862, the Tendler company, founded in 1748, became Frommes' sole property. He sold the publisher belonging to the company to C. Gerolds Sohn , although calendar production was excluded from the sale. In 1868 he ceded the range to Jul. Grosser and from then on ran the calendar publishing company under the company name Carl Fromme .

From Karl Winternitz & Comp. In 1867 Fromme bought the Keck & Pierersche printing and type foundry , which at that time consisted of three machines and two hand presses. Fromme worked with great personal commitment for the type foundry, which he owned until 1874. The factory, which was still equipped with handicrafts at the time of purchase, was modernized for the production of artful and, at that time, groundbreaking font sample prints, whereby Fromme found active support in the inventive stamp cutter Carl Brendler. Fromme acquired all sorts of novelties for his foundry. However, the workload became too great with the growing expansion of the book printing company, and Fromme finally handed over the type foundry to Brendler.

Fromme now devoted himself more intensively to the design of his printing house. Through his work, the worldwide position and recognition of Viennese typesetting and printing in typography could be expanded. For his achievements, Fromme received the honorary diploma from the Vienna Factors Association. Fromme also donated to the association, of which he had been an honorary member since 1878.

At a graphic exhibition in the rotunda in Vienna in 1873 , Frommes' commercial typesetting caused a sensation in professional circles. He was awarded the title of master's honor and as a token of recognition for his achievements in the arts and crafts, Emperor Franz Joseph awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order . In 1876 Fromme was given the title of "kk court printer".

Koloman Moser designed the Art Nouveau calendar for Fromme (1903)

He founded an Austrian calendar publishing house, which represented a contemporary specialty due to its typographical equipment as well as its rapid expansion. The Fromme calendar became known worldwide. Fromme founded the actual Austrian calendar publishing house in 1867 after his economic breakthrough with Vogl's folk calendar , the Nader medical calendar and several other wall calendars. Fromme published a Vademecum in calendar form for various regions and despite the great competition, Fromme was able to print runs of up to 100,000 copies, which also scored points in terms of both content and quality.

The most important literary work that was printed in Frommes Pressen were the memoirs of the statesman Prince Metternich , published by Braumüller . Fromme competed with Holzhausen Verlag , a traditional company with an excellent reputation, to award this print job . Fromme finally received the assignment, which he carried out satisfactorily.

Fromme was more friendly than business-like with the authors of the works he published as well as with non-publishing authors. His office was given the status of a meeting place for scientific celebrities. Fromme kept a very important portfolio of letters of thanks from his authors.

He had handed over the management of the extensive business to his son-in-law Wilhelm Frick . Frommes Verlag was expanded under the later owners Carl G. and Otto Fromme. An important work printed there was the two-volume Austrian Literature History by Nagl-Zeidler. The business with calendars and almanacs was further expanded. In 1875 Fromme published 28 specialist calendars; by 1890 the number rose to 148 different calendars. For other publishers, Fromme printed Bibles in Latin, Greek and Hebrew for a company in London in the early 1870s. The publication of school books and scientific publications became increasingly important from the 1890s. This is where the collaboration with Koloman Moser began on designs for the Fromme calendar.

With increasing expansion, the old premises became too small and in 1911 the book printing company moved to a purpose-built factory by Hans Prutscher in Nikolsdorfer Gasse 7-11 in the 5th district. However, with the new financial burdens, the company had to be converted into a limited liability company.

The First World War and the collapse of the monarchy in 1918 brought difficult times for the company, as large parts of the sales market in the former crown lands collapsed. The printer had to be closed, the publishing house continued to exist. Christoph Reisser junior, a partner in the company, took over part of the staff and the typesetting in 1925. During the Second World War , Fromme was classified as unimportant and had to cease business. After the war, construction began only slowly due to a shortage of paper.

Together with the parent company Christoph Reisser's Sons AG, Fromme was merged into the Agens-Werke Geyer + Reisser .

literature

• Börsenblatt for the German book trade 1884;
• Oesterreichische Buchdruckerzeitung 1884;
• Kanka, Funeral Words etc., Vienna 1884.
• Ingrid Haslinger: Customer - Kaiser. The story of the former imperial and royal purveyors . Vienna: Schroll, 1996, ISBN 3-85202-129-4
• Rudolf Schmidt: German bookseller. German book printer . Volume 2. Berlin, Eberswalde: Weber, 1903, pp. 282–285.