German & Austrian Hutmachers

mayserwegener · Apr 13, 2021

PanosChris said:
Steve, that is really fantastic! We don't see brown velours all that often, especially of this quality and period.

Panos, Thanks! The Velour is great and in very good condition but the components are lacking.

Steve1857 · Apr 14, 2021

I promised Steve @mayserwegener that I would post this C.W. Borchert hat box in this thread, so here it is.

It has the company's original address at Friedrich Strasse pre WWII. After WWII, Borchert moved to Kurfüstendamm. That is to to say from east to west Berlin after the city's partition.

The G.m.b.H initials (the German equivalent of a limited liability company) are also missing on this hat box, which lead me to believe this is very early 1900s.

Koechinggendoet · Apr 15, 2021

Hello to all of my fellow loungers
This is my first austrian hat,an huckel one
Sorry for the inside picture to be from the seller,the hat sweatband is now in turmoil at my hand

mayserwegener · Apr 15, 2021

Koechinggendoet said:
Hello to all of my fellow loungers
This is my first austrian hat,an huckel one
Sorry for the inside picture to be from the seller,the hat sweatband is now in turmoil at my hand

Nice find! It's actually a German made hat. This hat was made by Hückel Weilheim and probably later 1960s early 1970s. Ex employees from JHS Ratibor Factory started Hückel Weilheim post WWII. More about Hückel here.

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/6-johann-hückel´s-söhne-hückel-hutfabrik-weilheim/

Koechinggendoet · Apr 15, 2021

mayserwegener said:
Nice find! It's actually a German made hat. This hat was made by Hückel Weilheim and probably later 1960s early 1970s. Ex employees from JHS Ratibor Factory started Hückel Weilheim post WWII. More about Hückel here.

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/6-johann-hückel´s-söhne-hückel-hutfabrik-weilheim/

Thank you for the info steve,i read some blog that say hückel was an austrian company changed name to tonak,of course you know more than i ever to be

mayserwegener · Apr 15, 2021

Steve1857 said:
I promised Steve @mayserwegener that I would post this C.W. Borchert hat box in this thread, so here it is.

It has the company's original address at Friedrich Strasse pre WWII. After WWII, Borchert moved to Kurfüstendamm. That is to to say from east to west Berlin after the city's partition.

The G.m.b.H initials (the German equivalent of a limited liability company) are also missing on this hat box, which lead me to believe this is very early 1900s.

View attachment 327079 View attachment 327080

Steve, Thanks for posting! Also please post the Franz Gulder Silk Top Hat if you have time. Thanks.

mayserwegener · Apr 15, 2021

Koechinggendoet said:
Thank you for the info steve,i read some blog that say hückel was an austrian company changed name to tonak,of course you know more than i ever to be

Tonak today is the original JHS main factory in Nový Jičín, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic today) up to WWI Neutitschein, Austria. All Czech Hat factories were nationalzed as Tonak post WWII. Here you can read about the beginnings (post WWII) of Hückel Weilheim (Bavaria) started by expelled workers from JHS Ratibor Factory.

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/6-johann-hückel´s-söhne-hückel-hutfabrik-weilheim/?do=findComment&comment=952

Koechinggendoet · Apr 15, 2021

mayserwegener said:
Tonak today is the original JHS main factory in Nový Jičín, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic today) up to WWI Neutitschein, Austria. All hat Czech factories were nationalzed as Tonak post WWII. Here you can read about the beginnings (post WWII) of Hückel Weilheim (Bavaria) started by expelled workers from JHS Ratibor Factory.

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/6-johann-hückel´s-söhne-hückel-hutfabrik-weilheim/?do=findComment&comment=952

Thankyou again for the info steve,its my daily hats when its cold outside,and its fairly cheap,i buy it for 48 dollars

Koechinggendoet · Apr 15, 2021

Forgot to add this one,an emblem placed in the sweatband ribbon place(usually)

Steve1857 · Apr 15, 2021

Will do, Steve. I was planning on doing it yesterday, but the FL is so irritatingly slow that I gave up on it.

mayserwegener said:
Steve, Thanks for posting! Also please post the Franz Gulder Silk Top Hat if you have time. Thanks.

Steve1857 · Apr 15, 2021

Here it is, Steve.

A Franz Gulder of Vienna top hat. A fairly unknown maker, but seems to have been popular among Danish hatters.

It's quite light in weight compared to my Lincoln & Bennet for example, but out of the 10 top hats I own, this one comes second after my L&B with regard to the quality of the finish of the silk.

Sadly, at a size 59, it's two sizes too large for me.

mayserwegener said:
Steve, Thanks for posting! Also please post the Franz Gulder Silk Top Hat if you have time. Thanks.

Koechinggendoet · Apr 15, 2021

Steve1857 said:
Here it is, Steve.

A Franz Gulder of Vienna top hat. A fairly unknown maker, but seems to have been popular among Danish hatters.

Steve,we must have been the same size! 57 cm if i may presume,and its a wonder hats,is the silk plush very soft?

It's quite light in weight compared to my Lincoln & Bennet for example, but out of the 10 top hats I own, this one comes second after my L&B with regard to the quality of the finish of the silk.

Sadly, at a size 59, it's two sizes too large for me. View attachment 327326
View attachment 327327 View attachment 327328 View attachment 327329

mayserwegener · Apr 15, 2021

Steve1857 said:
Here it is, Steve.

A Franz Gulder of Vienna top hat. A fairly unknown maker, but seems to have been popular among Danish hatters.

It's quite light in weight compared to my Lincoln & Bennet for example, but out of the 10 top hats I own, this one comes second after my L&B with regard to the quality of the finish of the silk.

Sadly, at a size 59, it's two sizes too large for me. View attachment 327326
View attachment 327327 View attachment 327328 View attachment 327329

Steve, Thanks! It's the first Franz Gulder Wien.

Steve1857 · Apr 15, 2021

You're most welcome, Steve.

It's always nice to be a first, especially when it's a very fine example of the hat maker.

Please feel free to post the Franz Gulder top hat and my ca. early 1900s C.W.Borchert hat box on your germanaustrianhat site, Steve.

mayserwegener said:
Steve, Thanks! It's the first Franz Gulder Wien.

Mean Eyed Matt · Apr 16, 2021

steur said:
Unfortunaltely no label inside the hat, so no telling who the manufacturer was. The liner logo is not one I recognize.

I thought again about the logo in Stefans Woolie, because it is great
and I think it is the head of a griffin in the middle.
I remember darkly that I heard/read sometime/somewhere
the name " Greif-Hüte". The griffin is the heraldic animal of Pomerania,
which is why I thought of a ( North ) East German company.
But the griffin is also the heraldic animal of Baden -
where also Freiburg im Breisgau (Trescher) is located.

A Google search did yield a hit for "Marke Greif",
but unfortunately the post of the "Greif" top hat
is missing the pictures in the meantime:
https://picclick.de/Echter-Zylinderhut-von-Orginal-Marke-Greif-202415654357.html

In the bay there is also a hat " Marke Greif " right now
- unfortunately also without pictures:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Raritaet-2-Haarhuete-/292421812203
I asked the seller for more pictures...

Maybe Steve knows more? Ever heard of this brand?
Maybe just a coincidence...

mayserwegener · Apr 17, 2021

Mean Eyed Matt said:
I thought again about the logo in Stefans Woolie, because it is great
and I think it is the head of a griffin in the middle.
I remember darkly that I heard/read sometime/somewhere
the name " Greif-Hüte". The griffin is the heraldic animal of Pomerania,
which is why I thought of a ( North ) East German company.
But the griffin is also the heraldic animal of Baden -
where also Freiburg im Breisgau (Trescher) is located.

A Google search did yield a hit for "Marke Greif",
but unfortunately the post of the "Greif" top hat
is missing the pictures in the meantime:
https://picclick.de/Echter-Zylinderhut-von-Orginal-Marke-Greif-202415654357.html

In the bay there is also a hat " Marke Greif " right now
- unfortunately also without pictures:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Raritaet-2-Haarhuete-/292421812203
I asked the seller for more pictures...

Maybe Steve knows more? Ever heard of this brand?
Maybe just a coincidence...

Matt, Here you go. I replied to a post back in 2019 but the poster never replied back

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/german-austrian-hutmachers.32103/page-360#post-2499865

The "Marke Greif" belonged to supplier Vatter & Kaltenbach & Co. Frankfurt am Main. The advertisement below is from 1950.

I don't believe they made hats so they sourced from hat companies. In this 1936 advertisement they were a supplier of Rockel (see below).

PanosChris · Apr 18, 2021

Here is one of those unknown brand pre-war woolies, I got just recently

Not quite sure what is written on the stamp and whether "21" is the production year. It shares some elements (label, brim finish) with the "Germania" I got from @steur

steur · Apr 18, 2021

mayserwegener said:
Anton Peschel Neutitschein, measures 57 cm possibly late 1930s early 1940s. There is no mention of APN but it's very similar in construction to the Anton Peschel Neutitschein, Peschel "Kristall" from the same find. The darker Brown Close Cropped Velour is really fantastic easily dry creases and is in very good condition.

Open Crown

Again: a marvelous find! Love the colour and the thickness of the velour is almost tangible from the pictures alone.

steur · Apr 18, 2021

Steve1857 said:
Here it is, Steve.

A Franz Gulder of Vienna top hat. A fairly unknown maker, but seems to have been popular among Danish hatters.

It's quite light in weight compared to my Lincoln & Bennet for example, but out of the 10 top hats I own, this one comes second after my L&B with regard to the quality of the finish of the silk.

Sadly, at a size 59, it's two sizes too large for me. View attachment 327326
View attachment 327327 View attachment 327328 View attachment 327329

Lovely topper, Steve. Too bad about the size. Larger sized toppers are rare though and don't come cheap.

steur · Apr 18, 2021

Mean Eyed Matt said:
I thought again about the logo in Stefans Woolie, because it is great
and I think it is the head of a griffin in the middle.
I remember darkly that I heard/read sometime/somewhere
the name " Greif-Hüte". The griffin is the heraldic animal of Pomerania,
which is why I thought of a ( North ) East German company.
But the griffin is also the heraldic animal of Baden -
where also Freiburg im Breisgau (Trescher) is located.

A Google search did yield a hit for "Marke Greif",
but unfortunately the post of the "Greif" top hat
is missing the pictures in the meantime:
https://picclick.de/Echter-Zylinderhut-von-Orginal-Marke-Greif-202415654357.html

In the bay there is also a hat " Marke Greif " right now
- unfortunately also without pictures:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Raritaet-2-Haarhuete-/292421812203
I asked the seller for more pictures...

Maybe Steve knows more? Ever heard of this brand?
Maybe just a coincidence...

mayserwegener said:
Matt, Here you go. I replied to a post back in 2019 but the poster never replied back

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/german-austrian-hutmachers.32103/page-360#post-2499865

The "Marke Greif" belonged to supplier Vatter & Kaltenbach & Co. Frankfurt am Main. The advertisement below is from 1950.

I don't believe they made hats so they sourced from hat companies. In this 1936 advertisement they were a supplier of Rockel (see below).

Interesting thought, Matt. Did not make the connection myself. As luck would have it, I own a Marke Greif hat. Just to compare here are a few pics.

Vauka is most likely an acronym of VAtter Und KAltenback.

Here's the Trescher again for comparison:

And one in the same colour scheme: Wotan Homburg. Very similar to the Greif in its styling. I just noticed the lower case o in the WoTAN name. So it could very well be an acronym, like Vauka is as well.

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