Konski & Kruger

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Konski & Kruger
legal form
founding before 1924
resolution after 1944
Seat Berlin
Branch Electroacoustics and Electromechanics

Attica figures on the house at Chausseestrasse 117, the former headquarters of K&K

Konski & Krüger (short: K&K ) was a company that existed in the 20th century during the Weimar Republic and National Socialism , which developed and manufactured electrical , mechanical, electromechanical and electroacoustic components and devices. K&K itself outlined the field of activity with “Factory electr. and mechan. Apparatus, telephone and telegraph construction ”. Before and during the Second World War , it was the main manufacturing plant for the Enigma cipher machine, which was important for the war effort . The company was based at Chausseestrasse  117 in Berlin-Mitte .

history

Double headphones similar to those in the picture were part of the K&K product catalog

The name Konski & Krüger had been known in the radio industry since 1923 . An early trace of K&K dates back to 1925 and 1929, when it was still operating as Konski & Krüger Telefonfabrik and was based in Berlin-Mitte at 19 Schiffbauerdamm . The best-known products from the 1920s and 1930s were various loudspeaker systems that were sold as consumer products under the brand name “MEMBRA” ( derived from Membrane ) . This included a “cantilever power system” in a Bakelite housing, called “REKORD”, and a “ROYAL” model that was offered both as a built-in chassis and as a complete loudspeaker (see advertising leaflet under web links). A catalog from 1937/1938 shows various MEMBRA products, such as blocking circuits as a supplement to improve remote reception for public receivers , loudspeakers, headphones and Morse code keys .

From 1930 at the latest, K&K manufactured under license, initially for the Reichswehr and later for the Wehrmacht, the Enigma key machine, which was used in large numbers during the war (around 40,000 machines in total) . On the 4th floor of the production building there was a specially protected area where the secret wiring of the Enigma rollers as well as the final assembly and final testing of the machines was carried out. Only a very small and select group of particularly trustworthy employees had access to this. For reasons of confidentiality , the Enigma machines manufactured by K&K during the war did not have the company name on the nameplate, but the coded production code gvx for Konski & Krüger.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b product catalog (1937/1938). Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ The workers who built the Enigma . Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  3. ↑ horn loudspeakers Cellovox ( German National Library ). Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  4. ↑ Manufacturer information on Konski & Krüger. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  5. ^ Advertisement for K&K from 1932. Accessed October 17, 2016.
  6. ^ Friedrich L. Bauer: Decrypted Secrets, Methods and Maxims of Cryptology . Springer, Berlin 2007 (4th edition), p. 123, ISBN 3-540-24502-2 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 48 ″  N , 13 ° 23 ′ 0 ″  E