Unknown German Records. Pre-WW1 (Presumably)

[Josh Cattermole 1999]

Hello,

During my recent holiday I passed through the East German city of Gorlitz, a fascinating place with great history. The antique shops weren't too bad either, and I found some very interesting records there which I haven't seen before. Some records I managed to research (pictures of these have not been included), but a handful of others turned up virtually no info. The only one which threw up some info was the Kalliope record, which was in operation c.1908 until an unknown date. But the Bella and the no-name record (the writing around the label is purely a dealer sticker) are really messing with my brain trying to work out what they are. The style and feel (as well as the songs themselves) suggest that they are pre-ww1, but aside from that I really have no idea. I don't suppose anybody has any clue about the history behind these discs? Also, as a nice bit of history, I have included a stamp of the record dealer which some of these discs were originally sold in: an establishment called Wünsch's Musikhaus based at 29-30 Demianplatz, Görlitz. The business seems to have survived the war as the same record selling establishment features on the pre-war records and a Homochord record from 1927 (of which the stamp in the picture is from). I don't suppose anybody has any clue as to their history, but I thought it was worth mentioning nonetheless. Thank you for any help, and I hope you enjoy these interesting German records.

[epigramophone]

Information on Homocord and Kalliope can be found on Norman Field's excellent website www.early78s.uk, but Bella is new to me.

[Josh Cattermole 1999]

Cheers. Yes, it's an excellent site. I looked again and saw the Kalliope entry. I'm guessing my Kalliope record dates to c.1910 or something like that. Seems appropriate enough. As to the Bella. Yes, I had never seen one before. The only similar label designs I have seen are Beka records with a similar design c.1910, Dacapo records c.1913, Era records c.1908, and several others. I have included photos to show the similarity in label design. Based on stylistic grounds it is probably from this sort of period, but was curious if anybody had any specifics on this exact label.

[alang]

I would look on the German forum https://grammophon-platten.de. They have lots of information collected about German small labels. You can use google translate on the site.

Good luck!
Andreas

[Josh Cattermole 1999]

Andreas that is perfect. Thank you so much. Managed to see pictures of other Bella records (even on with the same Gorlitz dealer sticker as on mine). They date from c.1908-around 1914 or so (rough estimate based on what I saw on the site, and from what other users were saying). Looking at the serial number of mine, I'd say it dates to around 1912. There was info on Kalliope (mine would date to c.1910 or so). There wasn't too much info on the nameless record label, but oh well. Based on the style etc... I still think it firmly sits in the pre-WW1 period, which I good enough for me. Cheers again for pointing out this site to me. Much appreciated.

[alang]

You’re very welcome. They do have an english forum page as well. You could post your questions and pictures there and see if you get a response.

Andreas