Swissa
The Swissa is a typewriter that was manufactured by the August Birchmeier's Sons typewriter factory in Murgenthal (Switzerland) from 1950 to around 1980.
history
The forerunner of the Swissa, the Patria, went back to the German engineer Otto Haas, who patented it in 1933. In 1936 the portable typewriter was presented at the Basel sample fair . Production began in Pieterlen near Biel (Canton Bern). For this purpose the "AG for Typewriter Fabrication" was founded. The investors were the industrial families Chessex and Lutz. In 1938/39 the stock corporation was dissolved and then continued by the same Lutz family as "Patria-Schreibmaschinen GmbH".
The architect, artist and designer Max Bill received an order to redesign the Patria in 1944. Mechanically it remained unchanged. The punching tool factory August Birchmeier's Söhne in Murgenthal, Aargau, founded in 1908, began production around 1945. In 1950 the name changed to "Swissa Piccolo".
The Swissa was successfully distributed throughout Europe by August Birchmeier's Sons Typewriter Factory through ongoing license agreements, with the technology of its predecessor Patria being retained. Production was stopped around 1980.
Models
The following models were produced:
- Swissa piccola (from 1950 to 1958)
- Swissa junior (from 1958)
- Swissa juneusse (until the 1970s)
- Swiss junior 4th (until the 1970s)
- "Helvetia" was an export variant of the Swissa piccola.
A whole family of portable typewriters, which were distributed all over Europe, was based on the Swissa Piccola of Switzerland. The basic design of this machine was eventually manufactured under license through license agreements in England, France, Germany and Spain
- in France as Japy, Byron, Typo, Select and Patria
- in Great Britain as “post-war” Oliver and Oliver Courier , who coined the Courier typeface
- in Spain as Patria, Amaya, Pulasatta, Florida and Kings
- in West Germany as Voss private
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Otto Haas patent registered in the USA
- ↑ MA UNIBE Jean-Luc Rickenbacher, intern Historical Collection Museum Aargau (search, image processing and text), Inv. No. K-18683, online , accessed May 28, 2018
- ^ Association of Aargau Museums and Collections
- ^ Typewriters Blog G. Sommeregger
- ^ Association: IFHB (Internationales Forum Historische Bürowelt e.V.)