Some better pics of the makers mark

[Carlyle]

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Any thoughts on this? I know many of you are familiar with maker marks. I’m not.
Joe

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[mkholst]

Hi Joe

I read it as:

Kerbach & Israel, Dresden

which is a well-known producer of i.a. "Mitgliedsabzeichen der NSDAP – Parteiabzeichen".

Michael

 

[Carlyle]

Hi Joe

I read it as:

Kerbach & Israel, Dresden

which is a well-known producer of i.a. "Mitgliedsabzeichen der NSDAP – Parteiabzeichen".

Michael

Thanks Michael.

 

[Hannibal74]

As Michael wrote, M1/42 Kerbach & Israel is a well known manufacturer of Parteiabzeichen, HJ Mitgliedsabzeichen and other medals (PK number 62) like the Kriegsverdienstkreuz.

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A very interesting detail regarding this manufacturer is that Kerbach & Israel (for obvious reasons) changed their name into Kerbach & Oesterhelt as we can see on this picture of a Kriegsverdienstkreuz.

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I don’t know exactly when the name was changed to Kerbach & Osterhelt but I do know (from the 1935 Handbuch der RZM) that the name was Kerbach & Israel back in 1935 when their M1 license was issued. However, their name was changed into “Oesterhelt” when the “PK” marking on medals was introduced. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any period documents regarding the exact date of the introduction of the PK marking.

Cheers

 

[Jack]

The name Oesterhelt & Kerbach appears for the first time in the 1940 address book, printing began on 9 January, so the editorial deadline was sometime at the end of 1939.

One might think that the usual "Aryanisation" took place after November 1938.

What is striking, however, is that Mr Oesterhelt has the same first name Arthur as Mr Israel before.
So I can just as well imagine that it is the same owner who was only allowed to exchange his Jewish-sounding name for a more "German" one. This is also supported by the fact that it is rather unlikely that this company would have received an RZM licence with a Jewish partner.
I will try to check whether the two are identical.

 

[Jack]

So, the check was not that difficult, the assumption was confirmed. In the 1939 book, there is a Wy. (meaning Willy) Arthur Israel at 43 Emser Allee, owner of an enamelling and embossing company, a year later it was Wy. Arthur Oesterhelt with the same characteristics. So a change of name, same person.

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[Carlyle]

So, the check was not that difficult, the assumption was confirmed. In the 1939 book, there is a Wy. (meaning Willy) Arthur Israel at 43 Emser Allee, owner of an enamelling and embossing company, a year later it was Wy. Arthur Oesterhelt with the same characteristics. So a change of name, same person.

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Thanks Jack you are the man! You must have a lot of reference books. They wouldn’t do me any good since I only speak English.
Joe

 

[Hannibal74]

So, the check was not that difficult, the assumption was confirmed. In the 1939 book, there is a Wy. (meaning Willy) Arthur Israel at 43 Emser Allee, owner of an enamelling and embossing company, a year later it was Wy. Arthur Oesterhelt with the same characteristics. So a change of name, same person.

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Excellent work Jack So the manufacturer’s name was changed into Kerbach & Oesterhelt at some point of time during 1939. Must have been good for their business… In my opinion it would be fair to assume that the German authorities or perhaps the Party demanded the change of name.

 

[Jack]

Oh no, Joe, I don't have that many reference books. The ones for these purposes here would be hard to come by and also expensive to pay for. Every major town and every year? No, it's more a matter of knowing where to look. Thankfully, more and more libraries and archives are digitising their collections and, even more commendably, making them available free of charge. Now all you have to do is search and, hopefully, find.
The good thing here was that the private addresses could be found and the names were not too common.


Hannibal, I see it that way too. I would guess the spring of 1939, not far away in time from the anti-Jewish pogroms in November 1938. Add in some more authority processing time, so maybe spring.
I think the name change was in the mutual interest of both sides.