WW2 GERMAN "TORPEDO" TYPEWRITER
HISTORY
Torpedo Büromaschinen Werke AG., Rödelheim, Germany
Two brothers, Peter and Heinrich Weil, founded the company in 1896. The company assembled bicycles called “Weil-Räder” and “Torpedo-Räder”. In 1906 the firm “Johan Völker & Co” was bought. This company had introduced in 1905 a typewriter called “Hassia”. Some improvements were made and Torpedo 2 was introduced in 1906. In 1931 the majority of the shares were bought by Remington Rand, New York, USA. In 1944 the factory in Rödelheim was destroyed in a bombing. After the war new factories were opened in Rödelheim and Holland. Until 1958 one million typewriters had been produced. In 1960 an electric typewriter was introduced. During the 1970s the company had serious financial problems. In 1966 the factory in Rödelheim was closed and production of typewriters ceased. About 3 000 000 Torpedo typewriters and been produced from 1906 until 1966. Torpedo typewriters were used throughout Germany in all types of businesses including the German Armed Forces.
ITEM DESCRITION
This typewriter is the 1933 GERMAN "TORPEDO" typewriter TYPE 15a and would have been used in Germany during WW2. Note it does not have an SS key and was never issued to an SS unit due to this key omission. It makes a great decorator piece.