German & Austrian Hutmachers

[mayserwegener]

Echter Mayser "Homespun", 58 cm, made for the Swedish Market, possibly early 1960s. This is the first "Homespun" I have encountered and the Felt is a Mélange with a more extreme Rauh Finish. This is a sporty Form with a shorter Brim. Always nice to find a new Mayser Model / Quality.

Open Crown

Natural Light

 

[steur]

Echter Mayser "Homespun", 58 cm, made for the Swedish Market, possibly early 1960s. This is the first "Homespun" I have encountered and the Felt is a Mélange with a more extreme Rauh Finish. This is a sporty Form with a shorter Brim. Always nice to find a new Mayser Model / Quality.

Open Crown

Natural Light

Cool find, Steve. Reminds me a bit of similar felts that Ottmar Reich used to make.

 

[steur]

Mayser Spezial homburg in black. Size 57 with the bound brim at 6cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Lovely hand to the felt, but there's a bit of springyness in the felt that makes is resist putting a crease in it. Nice as it is.

 

[steur]

Got this Rockel from Marcel @Pellie (thanks, Marcel). He bought it as a size 58, but it's nowhere near that. I liked the lighter colour of it, so here we are.
Rockel homburg in grey. About size 56 with the bounf brim at 6cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Not as fine a hand to the felt as the Mayser, but really nice homburg and this one has no objections to a crease. No label inside the hat.

 

[Pellie]

Got this Rockel from Marcel @Pellie (thanks, Marcel). He bought it as a size 58, but it's nowhere near that. I liked the lighter colour of it, so here we are.
Rockel homburg in grey. About size 56 with the bounf brim at 6cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Not as fine a hand to the felt as the Mayser, but really nice homburg and this one has no objections to a crease. No label inside the hat.

Nice nice, you made it back to life again. Great job!

 

[steur]

Hückel Prima velour in black. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at a good 11cm at the center dent. This one has been sitting on the hat stretcher for months now because it must have shrunk about a size and a half over the course of its life. It was supposed to be a size 56 and I got it back to that now. I have a soft spot for these even if I have several of them already I always pick up a new one as soon as I find one. You would too if you've handled one.

 

[mayserwegener]

Hückel Prima velour in black. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at a good 11cm at the center dent. This one has been sitting on the hat stretcher for months now because it must have shrunk about a size and a half over the course of its life. It was supposed to be a size 56 and I got it back to that now. I have a soft spot for these even if I have several of the already I always pick up a new one as soon as I find one. You would too if you've handled one.

Stefan, I agree! Will not see Velour like this again.

 

[mayserwegener]

Cool find, Steve. Reminds me a bit of similar felts that Ottmar Reich used to make.

Stefan, Thank you! Yes, great observation regarding Ottmar Reich.

 

[mayserwegener]

Mayser Spezial homburg in black. Size 57 with the bound brim at 6cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Lovely hand to the felt, but there's a bit of springyness in the felt that makes is resist putting a crease in it. Nice as it is.

Stefan, Another super find! Lately I have been wearing my Homburg Hats more often without side dents.

 

[mayserwegener]

Got this Rockel from Marcel @Pellie (thanks, Marcel). He bought it as a size 58, but it's nowhere near that. I liked the lighter colour of it, so here we are.
Rockel homburg in grey. About size 56 with the bounf brim at 6cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Not as fine a hand to the felt as the Mayser, but really nice homburg and this one has no objections to a crease. No label inside the hat.

Stefan, I forgot that Marcel found this Rockel Homburg when you posted in the WHAYWT thread. It's hard to find older Rockel Soft Felts like this Homburg. The Felt + Band / Binding color combo is fantastic!

 

[steur]

Stefan, I agree! Will not see Velour like this again.

Stefan, Thank you! Yes, great observation regarding Ottmar Reich.

Stefan, Another super find! Lately I have been wearing my Homburg Hats more often without side dents.

Stefan, I forgot that Marcel found this Rockel Homburg when you posted in the WHAYWT thread. It's hard to find older Rockel Soft Felts like this Homburg. The Felt + Band / Binding color combo is fantastic!

Thank you for the kind comments, Steve.

 

[mayserwegener]

Resolut Homburger Hutfabrik (R.H.H.) "Komet", 58 cm, possibly the later 1950s. R.H.H. was located in Köppern which is close to Bad Homburg (the birthplace of the Homburg Hat). The Black Felt is of high quality with a very nice Smooth Finish. The Bow design really catches the eye. It has a really nice Form with a wider Brim. R.H.H. hats are less common so I was happy find this one.

Some of the R.H.H. Tip protectors are very thick and tend to stick to the printed Logo on the Liner.

"Resolut" was reversed stamped and originally had a gold coating which only small remnants remain. The photo below show that it was stamped from the underside. If you expand the photo you can see the small circular lines from the die. There was mostly likely a second die for the upper side. The black exterior coating + gold were applied after the stamping. The leather is very thin so this probably made this stamping process less difficult. I couldn't find much on how this might have been accomplished so I could be totally wrong about the process. I can't recall seeing this before but I could just overlooked it.

Carl Bühler Esslingen was the hat store that sold this Homburg Hat. Unfortunately they went out of business (after 130 years) back in 2023.

https://stuttgart.t-online.de/regio...-buehler-schliesst-nach-ueber-130-jahren.html

Some of the label is faint. The Quality / Model is "Komet".

Open Crown

Natural Light

 

[mayserwegener]

FRIEDRICH STEINBERG, HERRMANN & CO. A. G.

A.G. FRIEDRICH STEINBERG, HERRMANN & Co.

WOOL & FUR FELT HAT FACTORIES

LUCKENWALDE

The company was founded in 1922 from the companies Friedrich Steinberg and Herrmann & Co., A.-G., which had merged in 1921 to form a general partnership. The former company Friedrich Steinberg was founded in 1844 by the master cloth maker Friedrich Steinberg, whose parents had been in the cloth-making business for a long time. The company soon gained a worldwide reputation, and its products were repeatedly awarded prizes at the World's Fairs in Paris, Brussels, Vienna, and Dresden

In 1874, the founder handed over his business to his sons Hermann, Robert, and Albert Steinberg, who continued to run the company successfully. In 1885, hat production was added, which soon proved profitable, so that cloth manufacturing was completely discontinued within a few years and only hat manufacturing remained. In 1885, the brothers Moritz and Salomon Herrmann came to Luckenwalde and founded the hat factory operating under the name Herrmann & Co. Since both companies produced roughly the same items and had the same customer base, they merged and built a new factory on the industrial site provided by the city of Luckenwalde, according to the plans of the architect Professor Erich Mendelsohn of Berlin.

In this state-of-the-art factory, equipped with the latest technology, up to 1200 dozen hat bodies can be produced daily. Further processing takes place in the main factories on Treuenbrietzener and Potsdamer Streets. There, men's, women's, and children's hats of all kinds are manufactured.

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From: DEUTSCHLANDS STÄDTEBAU LUCKENWALDE, HERAUSGEGEBEN VOM MAGISTRAT DER STADT LUCKENWALDE, BEARBEITET VON BÜRGERMEISTER LAPPE, DARI - VERLAG BERLIN - HALENSEE, 1930

 

[mayserwegener]

CARL GOLDSCHMIDT SILBER & BRANDT, HAT FACTORIES A. G.

CARL COLDSCHMIDT - SILBER & BRANDT

HAT FACTORIES A. G.

LUCKENWALDE

After a small hat factory opened in Luckenwalde in the early 1870s but soon closed down, Carl Goldschmidt founded the first wool hat factory in Luckenwalde in 1875, which quickly flourished. When the first small factory on Beelitzer Straße became too small, Carl Goldschmidt purchased the property at Wilhelmstraße 50/51, which has acquired its present appearance over the years through the addition of large buildings.

After the death of Carl Goldschmidt in 1911, his son, Heinrich Goldschmidt, took over the management of the factory and added Luckenwalde's first hair and velour hat factory to the wool hat factory. Despite several expansions, the premises were no longer sufficient, so in 1918 the hat factory of Förster & Co., Wilhelmstrasse 24/26, was acquired.

In 1922, the company was restructured as a public limited company under the name: Carl Goldschmidt Hutfabrik A.G. (Carl Goldschmidt Hat Factory Ltd.) and the large factory building at Wilhelmstrasse 24/26 was newly constructed

Due to unfavorable economic conditions and the highly speculative nature of the hair market, the company was compelled to discontinue hair hat production in 1927 and to once again, as originally intended, limit itself solely to the manufacture of wool hats. The premises used by the hair hat factory in part of the buildings at Wilhelmstrasse 30/31 were leased out, and the main focus of the company was moved to Wilhelmstrasse 24/26.

In the autumn of 1929, a merger was carried out with the company Silber & Brandt Hutfabrik, A. G., Berlin, the aim of which was the closure of this company's Berlin operations and the concentration of all production in Luckenwalde. Through extensions and
Reorganizations succeeded in increasing production in Luckenwalde accordingly and utilizing the factory to its full capacity. The new company, Carl Goldschmidt Silber & Brandt, Hutfabriken A.G. (Hat Factories Ltd.), is now not only one of the largest factories in Luckenwalde, but one of the largest hat factories in Germany overall, and is a significant factor for Luckenwalde. Carl Goldschmidt laid the foundation for the entire Luckenwalde hat industry in 1875, which is now the most important industry in the town: Carl Goldschmidt Silber & Brandt, Hutfabriken A.G., works in the same spirit as its founder for the well-being of its employees and the community.

WOOL HAT FACTORY

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From: DEUTSCHLANDS STÄDTEBAU LUCKENWALDE, HERAUSGEGEBEN VOM MAGISTRAT DER STADT LUCKENWALDE, BEARBEITET VON BÜRGERMEISTER LAPPE, DARI - VERLAG BERLIN - HALENSEE, 1930

 

[mayserwegener]

F. KALLENBACH, WOLLHUTFABRIK

F. KALLENBACH, LUCKENWALDE

WOOL HAT FACTORY

The company was founded in 1864. Until 1895, it operated a cloth factory. On April 1, 1895, the then owners, Bernhard and Ferdinand Kallenbach, transformed the cloth factory into a hat factory, which, as a result of the principle of owner Haber, always producing only the best product, except-

It developed so rapidly that the production facilities had to be constantly expanded through significant new buildings.

In 1908, the neighboring hat factory was acquired by

Spinnerei

66

Presserei Hat Pouncing

D. Cohn and Amend, which had gone bankrupt, was acquired. As a result of this expansion, the production of ladies' and stiff hats was added, thereby increasing weekly production to around 40,000 pieces. Due to the war, the factory had to be shut down for about two years due to a shortage of labor and raw materials.

The company is now back in full operation and enjoys the greatest trust for quality goods both at home and abroad.

The owners are the brothers Walter and Georg Kallenbach, who took over the business in 1919 from their father, Ferdinand Kallenbach, the previous sole owner.

The illustrations depict some characteristic manufacturing processes.

Packaging / Shipping

From: DEUTSCHLANDS STÄDTEBAU LUCKENWALDE, HERAUSGEGEBEN VOM MAGISTRAT DER STADT LUCKENWALDE, BEARBEITET VON BÜRGERMEISTER LAPPE, DARI - VERLAG BERLIN - HALENSEE, 1930

 

[mayserwegener]

J. Hückel´s Söhne Promotional Pocket Mirror, "ERIKA MÜHMER, Berlin-Weissensee, Berliner Allee 229", 1930s and a recent arrival.

 

[mayserwegener]

J. Hückel´s Söhne Promotional Pocket Mirror, " L. R. Zeumer Mannheim", 1930s and a recent arrival.

 

[mayserwegener]

Echter Tamino, "Special - Marke Tamino Feinste - Qualität -", Wool, 57 cm, possibly mid to late 1930s. This Wool Soft Felt has the yet to be solved mystery "Arbeits - No: Controll - No: Lohn - No:" and "Qual. Form Farbe Garnitur" Stamps. I assume "Tamino" is based on the hero tenor in Mozart's 1791 opera The Magic Flute. Unfortunately after much searching I wasn't able to find the company that had this trademark. I like finding these older Wool Soft Felt Hats.

Anton Niemand, Speyer a. Rh. Advertisement, 1925 Speyer Adressbuch.

Open Crown

Natural Light

 

[steur]

This one showed up yesterday. And it's an intriguing one.
Brückel's velours fedora in black. Size 58 (too big for me alas) with the raw edge brim at 6,5cm and the crown at a generous 12cm at the center dent. High quality velour with a great hand hat which had me stumped for various reasons. First of all it felt a bit rough when I first handled it, which sometimes happens with these older velour hats. This was different though because I found out it has the nap flowing clockwise. I think I have one other hat with that feature, a hat by Vezzani. Can't place the AF on the size label.
The other thing that has me wondering is wether this was meant to be a rip off of Hückel or if that it's just a coincidence. I'm thinking it's its own thing. Unfortunately there's no label under the sweatband to help us along.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

This one showed up yesterday. And it's an intriguing one.
Brückel's velours fedora in black. Size 58 (too big for me alas) with the raw edge brim at 6,5cm and the crown at a generous 12cm at the center dent. High quality velour with a great hand hat which had me stumped for various reasons. First of all it felt a bit rough when I first handled it, which sometimes happens with these older velour hats. This was different though because I found out it has the nap flowing clockwise. I think I have one other hat with that feature, a hat by Vezzani. Can't place the AF on the size label.
The other thing that has me wondering is wether this was meant to be a rip off of Hückel or if that it's just a coincidence. I'm thinking it's its own thing. Unfortunately there's no label under the sweatband to help us along.

I’ve seen so many of them, and every time I’m amazed at how beautiful and attractive the old velours are.
This is one of them.