Ultraphone

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Label of a shellac record by Ultraphon, 1930

Ultraphon is the name for a device for playing records and for a record label .

The ultraphone

The Berlin inventor Heinrich J. Küchenmeister (* 1893, Berlin, † 1971, Bremen) developed the "Ultraphon" in the early 1920s, a player for records in a round housing with 2 sound boxes, 2 tone arms and 2 sound openings offset at right angles. Both needles run at a fixed distance through the same groove, which results in a slight time shift in the audio signal when played through their own horns. On the one hand, this results in a gain in volume and, on the other hand, a “surround sound” or pseudo-stereo effect is generated.

The "Deutsche Ultraphon AG", whose purpose was the production of these speaking machines, was founded on August 13, 1925 in Berlin-Lichtenberg, the main shareholder was Heinrich Küchenmeister.

Since the commercial success of the invention was little, one soon went over to building conventional devices with only one tonearm / bell. From 1928 the kitchen master company "BERTONA - Berliner Tonapparate-Fabrik GmbH" took over the production. It stopped production in early 1932.

German Ultraphon AG

In cooperation with the Dutch businessman and engineer Andreas Struve (* 1882, † 1954) Küchenmeister planned a multinational electro-acoustic group with independent departments for

  • Record and speaking machine
  • radio
  • Sound film.

With predominantly Dutch capital, the “NV Küchenmeister's Internationale Maatschappij voor Accoustiek” was founded as a holding company in Amsterdam (May 1929). These included the “NV Küchenmeister's Internationale Maatschappij voor Sprekende Films” (founded in December 1927, later Internationale Tobis Maatschappij NV ) for the sound film sector and the “NV Küchenmeister's Internationale Radio Maatschappij” for the radio department, which only reached the planning stage.

The "NV Küchenmeister's Internationale Ultraphoon Maatschappij" from October 1928 was responsible for the record and speaking machine area.

At the beginning of 1929, the Deutsche Ultraphon AG, Berlin merged with Küchenmeisters Internationaler Ultraphoon, Amsterdam. The aim was to set up our own record production in Germany. The first records came on the market in autumn 1929.

Under the direction of the record producer Herbert Grenzebach (* 1897 Berlin, † 1992 Mallorca), an extensive repertoire was created in a short time.

The ultraphone artists included Marlene Dietrich , Joseph Schmidt and Erich Kleiber .

The recordings are characterized by an unusually good sound quality. It is thanks to the ultraphone sound technicians Hans-Karl von Willisen (* 1906 Berlin-Charlottenburg, † 1966 Wuppertal) and Paul-Günther Erbslöh (* 1905 Düsseldorf, † 2002) The recording department of the Ultraphon used the dance hall of the garden bar “Victoria -Garten "(also" Viktoria Garden ") in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Wilhelmsaue 114–115.

Due to the confusing structure of the group, "Deutsche Ultraphon AG" ran into financial difficulties in July 1931 and was liquidated in early 1932.

In March 1932, Telefunken bought matrices and press works from the bankruptcy estate and founded its own label as “Telefunkenplatte GmbH”.

International label

  • France: “Ste. Internationale Ultraphone "in Villetaneuse (Seine) near Paris, 1931–1939 self-employed as" Société Ultraphone Française "
  • Netherlands: "Ultraphon", Amsterdam
  • Switzerland: "Turicaphon AG", founded October 1930 in Zurich
  • Czechoslovakia: Ultraphone pressing plant and recording studio in Prague from 1931. The production center in Prague and its rights went to the Czech Ravitas. Domestic products were registered under Ultraphon , while international productions were henceforth called Supraphon . The label experienced its high point in the 1930s with the sale of classical and jazz recordings. With the Russian occupation after the Second World War , nationalization followed in 1946 . Ultraphon and Supraphon were then used exclusively for the Czech market, the world repertoire continued under the Mercury Records label . The company Ultraphon AS was renamed Supraphon AS in 1969 and is now the largest Czech record label.

literature

  • Herman George Scheffauer : Super Sound 'Felt' By German Singer. [Artist-Scientist Has Perfected an Invention Which, It Is Said, Will Affect Talking Machines and Prove of Value in Medical World.] , In: The New York Times , Sunday, November 8, 1925, p.6.
  • Franz Schorn: Old record brands in Germany. Wilhelmshaven: Noetzel 1988. ISBN 3-7959-0551-6
  • Hansfried Sieben: Herbert Grenzebach: a life for the Telefunken record . Düsseldorf: Seven 1991
  • Oliver Wurl: Ultraphon reflects the tone: the rise and fall of an enterprising record company . In: Classical recordings quarterly . Issue 63, Winter 2010, pp. 37–40. ISSN  2045-6247

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hansfried Sieben: Herbert Grenzebach. Düsseldorf 1991, pp. 9-12
  2. ^ Dibbets, Karel: Tobis, made in Holland. In: Tonfilmfrieden / Tonfilmkrieg. Munich: edition text + kritik 2003. ISBN 3-88377-749-8
  3. ↑ Oliver Wurl: Ultraphon reflects the tone: the rise and fall of an enterprising record company. In: Classical recordings quarterly. Issue 63, Winter 2010, pp. 37–40. ISSN 2045-6247