Kaweco
KaWeCo (Federhalter-Fabrik Koch, Weber & Co) is a manufacturer of writing instruments based in Heidelberg, Germany. The company was initially founded in 1883 as the Heidelberger Federhalterfabrik.
Following the First World War, the company began to produce its own gold nibs to reduce their dependence on imported American components. The economic crisis of 1928 put the firm in jeopardy, and it declared bankruptcy in 1929.
In 1929, the company was taken over by Badischen Füllfederfabrik Worringen und Grube. It became one of the first German manufacturers to employ injection molding. In the early 1930s, the firm began to produce piston filler fountain pens, and continued production a smaller scale throughout World War II.
The company ceased production in 1970, following the death of its director and decline under his widow and sons, but the name was resurrected in 1972, before again closing in 1981. In 1995 the firm h & m gutberlet GmbH acquired the rights to the Kaweco name, and Kaweco fountain pens are once again being produced.
References
- Timo Teufert: Der Federhalter schrieb in Heidelberg Geschichte. In RNZ vom 16. Dez. 2008
- Andreas Lambrou / Stefan Wallrafen: FÜLLFEDERHALTER - Ein Überblick über die Entstehungsgeschichte und die wichtigsten internationalen Marken Heyne-Verlag, München 1992 ISBN NR. 3-453-05442-3