Greppert & Kelch
The company Greppert & Kelch from Brandenburg was a German toy manufacturer .
history
The company produced tin toys from 1919 to 1955 . In 1919 Messrs. Greppert and Kelch founded the toy factory Greppert & Kelch on Wredowstrasse in Brandenburg . They mainly produced cars, motorcycles, and mechanical figures. The toys received the "G & K" mark. At that time, the “Brandenburger Anzeiger” was looking for up to 40 “experienced punchers and clippers” . In 1920 Greppert & Kelch took over both the company "Metz & Duncker", founded in 1892, and the company "Tellus-Werke", founded in 1910, which were renamed "Vereinigte Blechspielwaren-Fabriken Gundka GmbH". In 1922, a good 90% of the total production was exported, as the solid construction was highly valued abroad and the prices were considered moderate. In addition to the “G & K” logo, more and more toys were labeled with the “Gundka” brand (derived from the names of the founders Greppert and Kelch). Over time, the "Vereinigte Blechspielwaren-Fabriken Gundka GmbH" integrated other toy manufacturers who had to give up and employed up to 400 people in 1924.
Typewriters were also produced from 1924 to 1927 . 1930 Mr. H. Hille took over the company because of financial difficulties in the Great Depression and renamed it "Gundka-Werk GmbH" to. In 1931 parts of the Oro works were taken over and around 500 employees were involved in toy production. In 1945 there were only about 50 employees who were engaged in the manufacture of war toys . After the war, toy production was resumed. In 1953 the company was expropriated and transferred to " VEB Gundka-Werk" with 26 employees . In 1955 it was incorporated into the “VEB Patent-Linol-Spielwarenfabrik” .
Web links
- www.historytoy.com : Website with database and brief information on company history and company logo