banner

From 1903 to the 20-year jubilee in 1912

After Arthur Müller left the firm, Wilhelm Teetzmann stayed commercial director from 1903 to 1911. He also cut the ties with “GNC” and in 1912 came out with his own line of calculators in Berlin. His successor became Max Müller-Scholl, who had already been responsible for sales in south-Germany since 1903. The building of an “excellent sales apparatus” was attributed to him. As technical director served Dipl.-Ing. Rolf Solf since 1912, next to Franz Trinks. Proxy holders were since 1911 Franz Billep and Adolph Truyen.

At “GNC”, in 1908 worked approximately 400 people, about 150 of which in the calculating machine business. The machine shop of “GNC” was, according to an advertisement, “equipped with mostly self-operating machinery”. The BRUNSVIGA calculators consisted at this time of about 1000 parts, which were first collected from the stock, and then assembled by mechanics in the assembly room. In 1909, the production facility switched to electric power. In 1910 the production of sewing machines and engines was stopped.

From 1900 to well into the 1920’s, many competitors came into existence, with whom GNC fought severe patent battles. E.g. the BEROLINA, manufactured by the former head distributor Ernst Schuster since 1901, or the TRIUMPHATOR from Leipzig, made since 1904, were pinwheel machines, like the BRUNSVIGA. Due to continuous technical improvements, however, the BRUNSVIGA continued to be among the market leaders:

  • In Juli 1904, “GNC” presented the first BRUNSVIGA in which the setting pins could be re-zeroed by a single turn of a wingnut.
  • From 1905 on, comma sliders replaced the comma pins used earlier.
  • The BRUNSVIGA D with 12 x 12 x 20 digits came on the market in June 1905
  • Machines with non-moving long setting levers, that were easier to operate, were shown by “GNC” for the first time on the Office equipment expo in Berlin in October 1907. The models J, G, H and N were so equipped, as well as the Trinks-Arithmotyp which made its first appearance in 1908, and was the first printing four-species calculator.
  • From 1911 on, “GNC” worked on the development of the specialty machine Trinks-Triplex

    In 1912, “GNC” could celebrate 20 years of calculator production, and the construction of the 20.000th machine. On this occasion, Franz Trinks established a calculator museum, in which not only improvements to the firm’s own machines would be shown, but also the historical predecessors (original or remade) and the contemporary competition. In addition, a sizeable collection of literature on mathematics and calculating technique was assembled.

    On February 19 1912 “GNC” applied for a trademark for the sentence “Gehirn von Stahl” (“Brains of Steel”). Together with the silhouette of the head of the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, according to the Brunswick monument for the famous mathematician, this established the new logo for the BRUNSVIGA calculators.

     

     

    Return to Room 1