Emil Pinkau (Company)
The Emil Pinkau & Co AG was a graphical operating in Leipzig , which by the 1873 lithograph Emil Pinkau (1850-1922) as a lithographic Kunstanstalt Emil Pinkau was founded. In addition to company printed matter and later reproductions of old masters for art books and portfolios, the company specialized in postcards as early as the late 1870s, making it one of the earliest manufacturers in this field.
history
Lithographic Art Institute Emil Pinkau 1873–1904
The Emil Pinkau Lithographic Art Institute was founded on October 1st, 1873. First location: Brüderstraße 19 in Leipzig. In the obituary it says about the beginning of the company: “Since 'the owner' started without capital, he could only gradually make the most necessary purchases. He himself was extremely diligent at work and for weeks he worked not only during the day with great zeal, but also every other night. ”For example, the first high-speed lithographic press was not purchased until 1883.
The expansion of the company made it necessary to move several times from 1877 onwards until a large new factory building with its own railway connection was built in 1898 at the corner of Wittenberger Strasse 15 and Dessauer Strasse 13 in Leipzig, which had to be expanded twice in the following years (1906 and 1910) .
Pinkau specialized early on in photolithographic views - initially for the popular Leporello albums , but soon also for postcards . In 1877 he advertised his albums and letterheads in "Photographic Imitation" in an advertising letter that was expressly addressed to "publishers of landscape works". He emphasizes that this printing technique is "a cheaper means of copying" than "expensive photography ". Pinkau therefore relied on high-quality mass editions and he did not see himself primarily as a publisher, even if the company is later referred to on some Leporellos as "printer and publisher". On a letterhead from 1911 it is explicitly stated: "No publishing house - only manufacturing"
With this orientation, it was only logical that the Emil Pinkau Lithographic Art Institute soon made a name for itself, primarily through the printing of postcards. Emil Pinkau is one of the first to recognize the potential of this emerging mass medium. On the 1911 letterhead already mentioned, he advertises: "Specialty since 1879, large editions of viewing postcards". The production figures prove this: 1979: 15.00; 1880: 160,000; 1885: 4 million; 1890: 45 million; 1895: 90 million; 1900: 120 million; 1905: 150; 1910: 170 million; 1913: 200 million cards.
The high quality of Pinkau's photolithographic work is represented by the "Grand State Prize" that the company received in 1893 at the world exhibition in Chicago for Leporello albums.
Emil Pinkau & Co AG 1904–1945
In 1904 Pinkau converted his sole proprietorship into a stock corporation , Emil Pinkau & Co AG . The background could be the already emerging profit stagnation in the industry around 1906, caused by the great competition.
In the following years a book printing company for "illustration and color printing" (1910), as well as departments for "photographic bromide silver rotary printing" (1911) and "copper rotogravure printing " (1913) were set up. An offset press was purchased astonishingly early in 1910. A collotype printing department had existed since 1899. The company now had a broad business base and was able to offer all the important printing processes of the time. In 1903, letterheads recorded "16 high-speed presses, 40 auxiliary machines" and in 1911 "32 high-speed presses" large format ", 150 auxiliary machines". The number of employees rose from 200 in 1904 to 450 in 1911.
Johannes Pinkau (1879–1958), Emil Pinkau's eldest son, had already joined the company as technical manager in 1902. It turned out to be a stroke of luck and many of the innovations and technical developments in the following years can be traced back to his initiative. After completing his practical training, he had completed a degree at the Academy for Graphic Arts and Book Trade in Leipzig and was thus carefully prepared for this task and the later management of the company.
During the First World War , there was only greater demand for photographic field postcards and so in 1917, in the middle of the war, the production of photo paper for personal use began. It is significant that this later became a separate line of business.
"The time after the First World War means the end for many comparable companies. The postcard no longer plays an important role economically. A new communication medium, the telephone , is displacing it. The large Russian market, which is so important for exports, disappears. In this difficult one After the death of his father in 1922, Johannes Pinkau now formally takes over the management and manages to stabilize the company. Immediately after the inflation period in 1923, he was able to increase the capital to 2.5 million RM and is now increasingly relying on "pictures and art papers" , "Picture books, finer calendars and better printing work for industry and trade" and reproductions of older books. " The company developed a special process for this.
In economic terms, the overall situation in the 1930s appears to have been difficult. In 1930 a large two-color offset machine was purchased, which should ensure the company's competitiveness on the world market. In the annual reports at the end of the 1930s there were problems with exports due to the “devaluation of foreign currencies and general (r) rate drops”. At the same time, 85% of production is said to have been exported before the Second World War . In 1936 the company employed 300 people.
The children's magazine Die Kinderwelt was published by Pinkau-Verlag from 1926 to 1944 (referred to as Verlag Der Kinderwelt in the imprint from 1930 ) and renamed Deutsche Kinderwelt from 1934 .
In a heavy air raid on Leipzig on December 4, 1943, the facilities of Emil Pinkau AG were badly damaged. In March 1944 there is said to have been an, at least temporarily, shutdown of the company by the responsible Reich Defense Commissioner . Nevertheless, reconstruction began as far as possible. Some of the last issues of Kinderwelt could appear again at least in September 1944. Bomb hits finally led to the complete destruction of the company on April 6, 1945. For the 75th anniversary of the company in 1948, however, they were already working “on a small scale and with a few departments”.
Cooperation with the publishing house Dr. Trenkler & Co
At the beginning of the 30s there was a cooperation - possibly also a partial takeover - with the company Dr. Trenkler & Co AG , which was one of the greatest competitors in the field of postcards before the First World War. A more precise clarification of the relationship is still pending, but in 1938 Emil Pinkau AG claimed most of the profits of Dr. Trenkler-Verlag GmbH for itself and also got right. In 1939 the book The wonderful adventures of Baron von Münchhausen by Peter Hammerschlag was published by Trenkler-Verlag , although as a Jew he was prohibited from publishing and was already on the run at that time.
1945–1972
"After the founding of the GDR in 1949, companies like Pinkau AG were not immediately nationalized, but proceeded in several steps. The case of Pinkau AG is typical for this. The company is initially financially insolvent, primarily through corresponding tax regulations Pressure was put on that she would agree to a state participation. In June 1954 the company was converted into a limited partnership . The state-owned Deutsche Investitionsbank became a limited partner . Johannes Pinkau remains personally liable and managing partner, as one cannot, of course, do without his knowledge. "
After the death of Johannes Pinkau, who died childless in 1958, the company was run as a semi-public company in 1960 . His widow bequeathed her company shares to her siblings after her suicide in 1961. This meant that no immediate descendants of Emil Pinkau were any longer shareholders. A legal dispute in this regard went to the disadvantage of the family, which in the long term would certainly fit better into the plans for nationalization. In 1972 Emil Pinkau & Co AG was taken over as Pinkau & Trenkler by VEB Interdruck Leipzig and thus completely nationalized. The Treuhandanstalt's search for former shareholders after 1990 was unsuccessful. Today there is an office building on the company property.
Collections
The Leipzig City History Museum owns a large number of postcards from Emil Pinkau AG . Pinkau postcards and books are often offered on the Internet. The shares from 1922/23 are considered particularly beautifully designed collector's items.
literature
- Obituary for Emil Pinkau. Ed .: Emil Pinkau & Co AG, Leipzig 1923.
- Anniversary publication for the 75th anniversary of Emil Pinkau AG. Ed .: Emil Pinkau & Co AG, Leipzig 1948.
- Wolf v. Waldow: Leipzig, Springerstraße 8 - a search for clues. In: 25 years as a freelance notary in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt. Otto Schmidt Verlag, Cologne 2015, ISBN 9783504062224 , pp. 507-539.
Web links
- Early documents and newspaper articles on Emil Pinkau in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Quotation: Obituary Emil Pinkau
- ^ Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg, Graphic Collection, inventory no. HB; 7649, capsule no. 1227a
- ^ Emil Pinkau AG files, Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig
- ↑ Information according to Emil Pinkau's obituary.
- ↑ cf. Pieske, Christa: The ABC of luxury paper. Manufacture, processing and use 1860–1930. Reimer, Berlin 1984. p. 94
- ↑ Information about the anniversary publication for the 75th anniversary
- ^ Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig, Emil Pinkau AG files
- ^ Biographical description of Johannes Pinkau, typescript. Pinkau AG files, Saxon State Archives, Leipzig, approx. 1954
- ↑ Wolf v. Waldow: Leipzig, Springerstraße 8 - a search for clues. P. 535.
- ^ Emil Pinkau AG files, Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig
- ↑ Typescript files Pinkau AG, State Archives Leipzig, approx. 1954
- ↑ Information about the magazine
- ↑ Information and quotation: Anniversary publication for the 75th anniversary
- ^ Emil Pinkau AG files, Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig
- ↑ According to the commercial register of 1943, Dr. Tenkler-Verlag GmbH is 100% owned by Emil Pinkau AG
- ^ Page of the Austrian National Library with information about the rediscovered work
- ↑ quoted in Wolf v. Waldow: Leipzig, Springerstraße 8 - a search for clues. P. 536.
- ^ Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig, Emil Pinkau AG files
- ↑ Available in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig, Emil Pinkau AG files
- ↑ Available in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig, Emil Pinkau AG files