Alfred Bergmann

What might it have smelled like in a soap and perfume factory? Fine and delicate like the famous lily milk soap, flowery and floral like the beginning of the merry month, or perhaps tart and fresh like cologne? Perhaps also like palmin, machine oil and perfume alcohol? "Soap is a benchmark for the prosperity and culture of countries." Not only Justus von Liebig knew this. In 1885, Bruno Bergmann founded the soap and perfume factory Bergmann & Co in Dresden. His nephew, Alfred Bergmann, born 150 years ago on 16 May 1864 in Zittau, joined the company as co-owner in 1891 after completing his commercial training in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin.

In the meantime, the factory found a new location in the eastern part of the up-and-coming town of Radebeul on Meißner Straße, where it prospered magnificently. This was evidenced not least by the establishment of subsidiaries in what was then Austria-Hungary, Russia, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. In addition to bath, children's and laundry soaps, hair, face and shaving lotions, beard hair colouring products and scented flacons, the lily's milk soap, launched in 1915, quickly became a bestseller with its enveloping, gently scented lather. This soap was to become every woman's personal hobbyhorse - the company logo, two crossed horses with a lily blossom in the centre, was found and helped the factory to achieve great sales. However, the outbreak of the First World War (the 100th anniversary of which was in 2014) interfered with this success story. Although the production of a rich soap hardly seemed possible due to the lack of fats, a war committee decided to continue production, albeit in inferior quality.

The result was ambiguously reinterpreted in the vernacular as "War Committee Soap". Nevertheless, the production of scented water continued almost unabated. During the Second World War, too, fats were intended to ensure people's nutrition rather than personal hygiene, and here too, on the orders of the "Reichsstelle für industrielle Fettversorgung" (RiF), a sandpaper-like counterpart of lower quality left the factory halls, which the population cryptically renamed "Reinlichkeit ist Frevel" (an alternative pun was "Reinigung ist fraglich") and was more suitable for body scrubbing. Although both wars had spared the company premises, the sales market hit rock bottom. In addition, the subsidiary factories in Holland, Belgium and the Czech Republic were lost. Furthermore, shortly after the company was founded, both designated owners left the GDR for West Germany, from where they tried to continue the Radebeul factory, but were unable to build on the old successes. These were only recorded again after 1955, after the company was forced into typical GDR structures and merged with Raseifa to form VEB Steckenpferd.

Alfred Bergmann died in 1928 as the result of a stroke. The obituary states "Our Alfred Bergmann had only one desire: To make his company one of the leading ones in Germany" Not only did he actively contribute to the sale of the products by means of the memorable company logo, his focus early on was on advertising and marketing, so that supply and demand grew steadily. He placed adverts in the press and on billboards, brought advertising stamps with fairytale themes or classical literature into circulation, and even composed a piece of music specially for the company, the hit "Mein Steckenpferd" by C. Alfredy. His endeavours were thus fulfilled, at least for several decades: Steckenpferd could be bought in every pharmacy in Germany, even in the Orient. In 1902, the King of Saxony officially elevated the factory to the status of purveyor to the court.

But every history writes its own laws. At some point, this success story of Radebeul's industry also petered out and shortly after reunification with its "wind-ups", Steckenpferd ceased to exist in 1991. Today, the former company premises are home to a discount food store.

Maren Gündel, City Archive

Published in: Official Gazette May 2014