LYROPHON

The use of the name Lyrophon as a trademark applied to phonographs and cylinders appears to have been first registered to the firm of Kölkow & Russ (Continental/Phonographen/Fabrik), Blücherstrasse 6, Berlin in April 1899.

The German singer Adolf Leiban had established his own business in the name of A. Lieban & Company, Freidrichsgracht 58, Berlin, by February 1901, producing phonographs and cylinders.

By November 1902, A. Lieban & Co. had produced a similar line of products with the registered trade mark of Arion-Record in March 1903. These products were supplemented by the introduction of a disc record in the name of Lyrophon single-sided recorded discs in 1904.

For some reason the Lyrophon trade mark by name was registered to one Ernesto Herrmann, Willdenowstrasse 4, Berlin, in June 1907 as applied to the manufacture of talking machines and disc records, by which time there was a substantial catalogue of Lyrophon-labelled discs on the market in Europe.

It seems that A. Lieben & Company had been re-formed in about 1906 into Lyrophon-Werke Adolf Lieban & Co., and removed at about this time to their new premises at Gitschinerstrasse 91, Berlin. From late 1906 and continuing into 1907 and some time beyond, Frank Rauth, 9 Christopher Street, Finsbury Square, London, was the British agent for Lyrophon disc records, later moving to 27-29 Worship Street, London. From about this time, Lyrophon-Werke A. Lieban & Co. began a series of Asian recording tours, including India, Burma, Siam, the Malay states, Indo-China, the Dutch East Indies and China.

By November 1912, Lyrophon-Werke Adolf Lieban & Co. had been converted into a limited liability company in the name of Lyrophon-Werke GmbH under the proprietor, Martin Schulvater, while still located at Gitschinerstrasse 91.

By 1913, Lyrophon-Werke GmbH had been absorbed into a conglomerate of companies controlled by Carl Lindstrom AG, Berlin.

Source: Collector Georg Richter / Germany