Tin toy factory Theodor Krause

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The pewter toy factory Theodor Krause existed in Gotha from 1853 to 1943. The company, which has been family-owned for over three generations, has manufactured pewter figures , mainly tin soldiers , but also civilian motifs, accessories for dollhouses and mechanical toys and sold them to German and international customers.

history

The company was founded on September 15, 1853 by Theodor Krause (1819–1906). The founder was the son of Johann Elias Zinngießermeisters Anselm Krause (1788-1847), who in his workshop in the Gothaer Fleischgasse (now Hünersdorfstraße) household of tin had produced. The son passed the master craftsman's examination in his parents 'company in 1846 and initially ran his own company in his parents' workshop. Theodor Krause called his company a factory , but in the beginning he still produced purely by hand with self-made molds . Krause's tin figure factory was the second German company of its kind after the Ernst Heinrichsen tin toy factory founded in Nuremberg in 1839 .

Krause's first products were tin soldiers, which he soon expanded to include trains and ships as well as accessories for dollhouses. It was represented at the Leipzig Trade Fair from 1856 , was soon able to open up international sales channels and quickly supplied customers in France, England, Switzerland and Austria. For export he made special hollow figures in order to keep the export tariffs for the heavy base material tin low. Due to the demand for tin soldiers due to the wars of 1864 and 1866, the company grew rapidly and moved into its own premises at Gartengasse 3 in Gotha around 1865. By 1870, Krause had established a customer base in 90 German cities as well as practically all of Europe and the USA. A focus of foreign trade was in Austria , which was favored by the accession of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha to the German Customs Union . The victorious outcome of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/71 provided a new upswing for the sales market for tin soldiers , so that the Krause company was soon given the joking name of soldiers' factory . The successful course of business led to a further expansion of the company, which moved into a large property at Schützenberg 2 around 1877. In 1878, Theodor Krause was appointed councilor of commerce for his services .

In addition to its presence at the Leipzig Trade Fair, Leipzig was also an important marketing location for the company. There the products were exhibited from 1870 to 1877 in the building at Markt 3, from 1878 at Neumarkt 42 and from 1914 in a show room at Neumarkt 2/4.

The founder Theodor Krause retired around 1880 and handed the business over to his son Karl Krause (1849–1912), who was particularly gifted in business, expanded the factory again and was able to increase the export share to 75%. The workforce was around 30 people, divided between three foundries, 14 to 20 painters and packers, some apprentices and some home workers. Until 1894, the engraver Friedrich Alwin Schilling (1828–1894), who was already working under his father, took care of the engraving of the molds, after which the engraver was no longer permanently employed, but instead used various external engraving companies to implement the designs. The product range now also includes battery-operated lamps for dollhouses and dolls dishes. The sales partners had a 1% share in the profit.

Because of the doll's dishes he produced, Karl Krause came into conflict with the law several times, as he used a high proportion of lead for the cheap production of pewter goods , which violated the legal regulations for food containers. About 40% lead was customary in trade, whereas Krause's dolls' dishes from 1894 contained 58% lead. Krause was able to obtain an acquittal and the release of his confiscated products with medical reports as well as with the determination that people do not actually eat or drink from dolls' dishes or that the production of miniature dishes is only possible with a high proportion of lead. There were further disputes over allegations of plagiarism that were brought against Krause. Some of the Krause figures simply consisted of only slightly modified copies of some much older figures from other manufacturers. For example, a figure cast by competitor Heinrichsen in Nuremberg in 1839 from their parforce hunt was taken over completely identically. But Krause was not only the target of complaints, he also complained himself; He often took legal action in the case of defaulting debtors in particular. As controversial as the business practices were, the relationship between the entrepreneurial family and the employees was good, many of whom spent their entire working lives in the factory. The working conditions in the pewter factory were not the best, however, and poisoning from inhaled lead dust occurred several times.

After Karl Krause's death in 1912, his son Rudolph continued the business. However, he was drafted into military service in 1914 and fell in France in 1915. His widow Mary Krause b. Gerlach continued to run the business and knew how to manage the business even through the difficult war economy with the confiscation of raw materials. The First World War even brought about an increase in sales, as the demand for tin soldiers skyrocketed in the first years of the war. However, the longer the war dragged on, the more this demand subsided and came to a complete standstill at the end of the war. The prudent entrepreneur was able to keep the company going by switching to civilian and technical toys and also manage it through inflation and the global economic crisis .

The company's 75th anniversary was celebrated in 1928. In that year, the range presented at the Leipzig trade fair included lead soldiers in a wide variety of designs with matching accessories such as cannons, vehicles, tents, etc., items for dollhouses such as furniture, lights, crockery. The enthusiasm for the then celebrated Atlantic pilots was reflected in figures by Hermann Köhl , Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld and James Fitzmaurice as well as their Bremen aircraft in different sizes.

In 1930 the figure size of 30 mm for the figures made by the Nuremberg manufacturer Heinrichsen was raised to the norm. In the 1930s, the companies benefited from the militarization and the maintenance of tradition by the Nazi rulers, so that tin and lead soldiers moved back into the focus of company advertising and the Krause company in its advertising of the "care of the memory of our glorious past" appealed.

The pewter toy factory Theodor Fischer came to an end in 1943 when the factory was shut down due to the war economy in World War II . Tin and lead were used for armaments purposes. After the end of the war, despite all efforts, Mary Krause was unable to start over. The company building in Gotha was last used by VEB "Bijou" from 1972 and was demolished in the winter of 1983/84.

After the Second World War, the Gotha Museum for Regional History and Folklore has reissued two series of pewter figures in the shapes of the Krause company (“Gothaer Marktleben um 1830” and “Hohe Jagd”) as souvenirs.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Weisser (2000) names Karl Krause's widow “Mary Krause geb. Gerlach ”, while Berger (1972) calls her“ Emma ”and as such she is said to have owned a brush factory in Georgenthal.
  2. ↑ The company's advertising letter from the 1930s, reprod. in Weisser 2000, p. 23.

literature

  • Anton Klamroth: Theodor Krause, Gotha, September 15, 1853 - September 15, 1928 , in: The steadfast tin soldier. Messages for lovers of the pewter figure , special print 2/1928, Leipzig 1928, p. 2.
  • Jutta Berger: Pewter toys Krause / Gotha. From craft to capitalist production , in: Gothaer Museumsheft 1972, pp. 23–33.
  • Heidrun Preißler: Documentation on the production of pewter figures in the pewter toy factory Theodor Krause Gotha , Gotha 1997.
  • M. Weisser: Zinnspielwarenfabrik Theodor Krause (Gothaer company history, series of publications by the URANIA culture and education association Gotha eV on the company history of the city of Gotha, vol. 18), Gotha 2000.