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Today we tell history a company that suffered the consequences of the Second World War and persecution since its founders were of Jewish origin: the company Wirgin
the company Wirgin was founded in 1920 by four immigrant brothers Poles educated in Germany and Switzerland: Heinrich, Max, Josef and Wolf Wirgin in Wiesbaden (a town on the outskirts of Frankfurt dedicated the pr oduction and import of cameras). Heinrich was then only 23 years old and knew how to use his mechanical knowledge, Josef had the technical part, Max was a doctor in chemistry and was dedicated to export and Wolf was responsible for the financial department.
the company focused initially on plate cameras and large format and produced his first camera in 1927. But soon able to adapt to the changing needs of the market, launching his first 35mm camera in 1935 : the Edinex, also sold by the company Adox as Adox Adrette
One of the first Wirgin in our collection (id 7910.)
now in Germany in 1938, with increasing success of the Nazi party (partly driven Berlin Olympics 36) persecution suffered by the Jewish people was more than palpable. at that time Heinrich and Josef followed the post your company in Wiesbaden, but thanks to the help of one of his employees (Seppl Haas, who was chauffeur, concierge ...) both managed to escape from Germany to the United States through Switzerland before the outbreak . of World War II There waiting for them and Max since 1936
factory of Wirgin went on to join the Adox company forced by the situation that Germany lived in those times s. Unfortunately during the war production company stopped and the factory was partially destroyed during the bombardments of allied forces
After the Second World War Heinrich returned from the United States, become Henry Wirgin and refounding the company Wirgin in Wiesbaden in 1948 incorporated a young designer camera called Heinz Waaske . the company, which soon went on to become the chief designer of the company Waaske was vital for the company and after making improvements to existing designs focused on the launch of the Edixa Reflex (first reflex camera lens company, which was produced in 1954). the success of the products created by Waaske allowed Wirgin the purchase in 1962 of the company Franka Kamerawerk , for which produced several 35mm cameras in Bayreuth / Upper Franconia. Wirgin had great success in selling miniature cameras, positioning itself as an alternativ a cheaper alternative to the Rollei cameras. After the departure of Waaske and joining Rollei in 1965, Wirgin was forced to close the Franka factory in 1967 and in 1968 Henry Wirgin closed its original company (though he continued production . some camera models in a new smaller plant)
Henry Wirgin died in 1989, at the age of 90 years in Wiesbaden. He had not only been one of the main employers in the camera industry in West Germany, but also devoted himself to regain normal friendly relations of non-Jewish Germans with Jewish citizens as president of the Society for the .-Jewish German
Henry Wirgin
Max Wirgin remained in the United States become American importer Exakta cameras and selling photo products through your company , the Camera Specialty company. in fact, his company sold some cameras renamed Wirgin but which had no connection with any factory Wiesbaden
Some of the most successful cameras Wirgin throughout its history were the Gewirette (renamed Adoxette), the Edinex (renamed Adrette), the Edixa (formerly known as Edina), Stereo, the Edixa . 16M or Edixa Reflex In our collection we have several cameras Wirgin:
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Other cameras Wirgin our collection: Stereo (id 292 and 168.) and Edixa (id 2539.)