Curt Bentzin

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Curt Bentzin (born February 8, 1862 ; † May 23, 1932 ) was a German entrepreneur and camera manufacturer in Görlitz . He was known for his innovative and high-quality cameras (e.g. Primar, Primarflex , Primarette, travel camera).

Live and act

On February 1, 1891, he founded his first own small workshop for photographic equipment. The company was located at Demianiplatz 23/24 in Görlitz. The capacity of the small workshop in the old town of Görlitz was quickly exhausted, and Bentzin decided to purchase a piece of land in order to build a house with an integrated workshop there. The move to the new premises at Rauschwalder Straße 28 took place in 1893.

Through the connection with Paul Rudolph , negotiations began in 1899 about a collaboration between Carl Zeiss and Curt Bentzin. In 1900 the " Aktiengesellschaft Camerawerk Palmos " was founded in Jena . At the end of 1900 the first result of this collaboration, the "Film Palmos 6 x 9" was presented.

In 1901 the company had massive financial problems due to the collapse of the house bank , and it was decided to liquidate. After the early liquidation of Palmos AG and the takeover of production in Jena by Carl Zeiss, Bentzin became independent again in 1902. The new company operated under Curt Bentzin, Görlitz .

Stereo camera by Curt Bentzin

In the following years the company specialized in reflex cameras, plate cameras and studio and reproduction cameras. The company limited itself to a small number of different models, so you could concentrate on perfecting the models. The company also built cameras for well-known camera companies: z. B. Voigtländer , Emil Busch etc.

After the First World War , the equally difficult period of inflation followed , and Bentzin withdrew more and more from business life. At that time, his son Ludwig Bentzin was already working as a volunteer in the company to learn the essentials for his future role in the company. In 1928 Curt Bentzin handed the company over to his son Ludwig, his daughter Helene and her husband Kurt Grun.

Curt Bentzin died on May 23, 1932 at the age of 70.

From 1939 his son Ludwig Bentzin ran the company together with his sister Helene, Kurt Grun left the company. In 1945 the company was transformed into VEB Görlitzer Kamerawerke , in 1948 it became VEB Primar-Kamerawerk Görlitz , in 1951 it was merged with VEB Feinoptisches Werk (formerly Meyer Görlitz ), which was acquired by VEB Pentacon Dresden in 1968 . The production of cameras was stopped in 1953.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Curt Bentzin - Stadtwiki Görlitz. Retrieved October 18, 2018 .
  2. ↑ 175 years of photography - travel cameras in the 19th century - flashback - digitalkamera.de blogs & forums. Retrieved October 18, 2018 .
  3. ↑ On the moon with camera technology from Görlitz? Görlitzer Anzeiger, July 20, 2009, accessed December 10, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Bentzin, Curt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur and camera manufacturer in Görlitz
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1862
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1932