Dondorf & Naumann
Dondorf & Naumann was a printing company specializing in banknotes based in Frankfurt am Main .
history
In 1850, Bernhard Dondorf and his former teacher Carl Christian Otto Naumann (1794–1865) founded the Dondorf & Naumann company, which specialized in the printing of banknotes, securities and postage stamps. Both printers had already produced securities beforehand. In addition to Giesecke & Devrient , it was the leading banknote printer in Germany. The company expanded quickly. It printed the banknotes of the Frankfurter Bank , Württembergische Central Bank , Meininger Bank , Badische Bank and Bavarian Central Bank . She also printed postage stamps for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post .
In 1870, based on a recommendation from the Consul General of the North German Confederation, Dondorf & Naumann was commissioned to produce 200 million banknotes for the Japanese government. After the Meiji Restoration , the monetary system was reformed there. The Japanese banknotes in nine denominations between 10 sen and 100 yen had different formats and colors, but all had the same motif: a vertically mirrored Japanese dragon and phoenix under the Japanese state seal. The engraver was the Italian Edoardo Chiossone , who also engraved the notes for the royal Italian bank. In order to avoid the risky, long transport route, the banknotes were only finally completed in Japan. The order ended in 1874 and the printing plates were brought from Frankfurt to Tokyo.
These orders could no longer be implemented at the original location at Saalgasse 27. Additional production facilities in Schneidwallstrasse 5 and in Großer Hirschgraben were therefore acquired.
After the establishment of the Empire in 1871, the importance of the private central banks and with it the order volume of Dondorf & Naumann decreased . In the Great Depression in 1932, the company went under.
Banknotes from Dondorf & Naumann
The following banknote series were produced by Dondorf & Naumann for German central banks:
- Baden 1849, 1854, 1870–1907
- Bavaria 1866
- Frankfurter Bank 1855–1890
- Hesse 1848–1855
- Electoral Hesse 1848/1849
- Central German Creditbank 1856, 1875
- Nassau 1840-1865
- Waldeck 1854
- Württemberg 1849-1875
In addition, the following series were produced for foreign central banks:
- Banca Nazionale (Italy)
- Japan (1871)
- Luxembourg 1873, 1876
- El Banco Anglo-Peruano (Peru)
- Bank in Basel (Switzerland) 1873–1876
- Bank in St. Gallen (Switzerland)
- Bank in Glarus (Switzerland) 1876
- Extra-Rhodian Cantonal Bank (Appenzell, Switzerland) 1877
literature
- Friedhelm Buchholz: The checkered history of an industrial monument - Alte Druckerei Dondorf (= Bockenheimer Geschichtsblätter . Volume 2 ). Friends of Bockenheim, Frankfurt am Main 2009.
- Albert Pick : Papiergeld, 1867, p. 12
