SILVER ADVERTISING:
AUGUST WELLNER SÖHNE
A. Wellner Söhne AG. Sächsische Metallwarenfabrik - Aue i. S. (Germany) was founded by Christian Gottlieb Wellner (1795-1857). He had six children, amongst them two brothers, the elder one, Carl August (1824-1909) and the younger one, Christian Gottlieb junior, who was born in 1831. Both became silver plate manufacturers and settled in Aue, but Carl was much more successful. Carl August continuously struggled for the expansion and technical innovation of his business. The starting point of Wellner's world class machinery was the acquisition of a spoon roller mill and a new spindle press. In 1870 he acquired the building of "alte Langmühle" (old long mill) in Aue.
In 1887 the "full-time" tradesman Karl Krause from Leipzig was hired as a sole distributor of the entire new-silver production. Formally a branch of August Wellner's company was founded in Leipzig, which was headed by Krause. In practice, however, this was a "one-sided treaty". Wellner delivered all his products to Krause at fixed prices and Krause sold the products at arbitrary prices.
In 1892, Karl August Wellner formally transferred the management of his factory to two sons: Ernst Albin and Richard Paul, and daughter Ida Marie, but still retained his personal guidance until 1895. His successor was Paul Gaedt (husband of Ida Marie), who played a major role in the successful continuation of the factory business after his retirement. In 1913 Gaedt accomplished the conversion of the former private company into a stock corporation Sächsische Metallwarenfabrik August Wellner Söhne Aktiengesellschaft (AG), or Saxon Metal Goods Factory August Wellner and Sons joint-stock company.
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In 1936 Paul Gaedt transferred the management of the company to the former chairman Francis Cramer. Gaedt retired and soon had to accept that the cutlery factory Wellner partially produced war products and therefore was expropriated by the end of the Second World War. After the end of World War II the Aue factory continued to operate and soon became the largest cutlery producer in GDR, employing over a thousand people; however, the name of the company was changed again in 1958 to VEB Auer Besteck und Silberwarenwerke (ABS) or in English "Aue Cutlery and Silver Items Company". The company held this name until 1992, when it was changed back to Wellner Bestecke und Silberwaren, GmbH, Aue (Wellner Cutlery and Silver Items, Ltd., Aue). After the reunification of Germany (in 1989) the company passed through a number of mergers and bankruptcy. The silver-plating factory in Aue was closed in 2001, but manufacturing of cutlery under the Wellner mark is still continuing in neighbouring Schneeberg. The new name of the company is Wellner/ABS GmbH (Wellner/ABS Ltd.).
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