Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin
Pictures from the company catalog, before 1925. The catalog offered weapons and accessories as well as costumes and props. The company was profiled in an introduction and insights into its workshops, storerooms and reception rooms provided by these illustrations.
After 1933, a number of parties revealed an interest in the company Theaterkunst Hermann J. Kaufmann. The culture chambers and the Gestapo immediately put Kaufmann under pressure to surrender his business. The film industry had a vested interest in Theaterkunst as a “productive and reliable company with […] well trained staff”. Backed by the Ufa film studios and the Propaganda Ministry, Hermann Stallberg, probably born 1895 and NSDAP member and SA stormtroop unit leader from 1932, founded the company Theaterkunst, Ausstattungs- und Uniformen GmbH on April 25, 1933. The next day, he advertised the “first purely Christian company in the branch under National Socialist direction” which also manufactured army clothing and SA and SS equipment. At this point, Theaterkunst Hermann J. Kaufmann still existed.
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin
Capture
Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin
Advertisement for Theaterkunst Hermann J. Kaufmann in: Das große Bilderbuch des Films, 1926. The design is by Werner Boehm, who was employed by the company from 1923 to 1965 and lived through various changes in government and ownership during his many years working there.
Advertisement publicizing the takeover of Theaterkunst Hermann J. Kaufmann by Nazi Party member Hermann Stallberg on the front cover of the leading trade paper for theater Die Deutsche Bühne [The German Stage], year 25, issue 5 (1933).
The two companies appeared in the Berlin directory under the same address. While Stallberg’s company took over all the domestic business and clientele, Kaufmann continued to oversee the foreign commissions. They shared the workshops, stores and staff. Stallberg’s business foundered, however, after one year. Hermann Kaufmann’s non-Jewish wife Meta and his long-standing trade executive Walter Russ then stepped in as partners, the latter also taking over as managing director. Costume fitting with Henny Porten for the lead role in the movie Luise, Königin von Preußen [Luise, Queen of Prussia], around 1930
In 1936, businessman Adolph Nau (1884-1955) and the ailing Swedish matchstick corporation Svenska Tändsticks Aktiebolaget (STAB) took over the business. The partner57