Bat "Fledermaus", Fr. Stübgen & Co
Fr. Stübgen & Co is a famous brand of hurricane lanterns from Germany, they are well known by there logo of a bat.
The founding
The first beginning of Bat's history goes back to 1843 when Friedrich August Stübgen founded a lamp factory in Erfurt. At first, this was Lampenfabrik Stübgen and Kleemann, but eventually, Kleemann left the company, and the name changed to Lampenfabrik Fr. Stubgen & Co. Friedrich August Stübgen died in 1877. His eldest son Gustav Stübgen took over the lantern factory. In 1879, Gustav Stübgen's brother, Julius Stübgen, also joined the company, and in 1882, they applied for the first patent.
Copyright, © Achim Stübgen, Hannover 2015 (stuebgen@hotmail.de)
The Bat
In 1892 the well-known trademark, the bat, was registered. The company grew steadily in the years that followed; by 1910, 400 people worked in the factory and exported 70% of its lanterns. During this time, the term “bat lamp” has also emerged. The name was then also changed to Lanternenfabrik Fr. Stubgen & Co. In addition to the Bat brand, the PAN, STUBS, and BAT MINOR brands were also registered.
Copyright, © Achim Stübgen, Hannover 2015 (stuebgen@hotmail.de)
Copyright, © Achim Stübgen, Hannover 2015 (stuebgen@hotmail.de)
Bat “Fledermaus”, Fr. Stübgen & Co in the First World War
Of course, the First World War also had a lot of influence on Stübgen; many exports came to a standstill. The third generation entered the company in 1918, the son of Julius Stübgen, Franz, and the sons of Gustav Stübgen, Rudolf, and Walther. Between 1918 and 1922, Fr. Stubgen & Co. produced many different lanterns and table lamps, wall lamps, etc. This trade did not go well then and has stopped again, and they started to focus on the BAT storm lantern. By 1924 they had registered 23 different patents.
Copyright, © Achim Stübgen, Hannover 2015 (stuebgen@hotmail.de)
Stübgen and its collaboration with other factories
In the 1930s, there were joint ventures with other companies, resulting from which part of the production was temporarily moved to Danzig in Poland and Leningrad, USSR. Stübgen also produced lanterns for the Dietz brand to make production more efficient, which suited Dietz well because of the dollar exchange rate. The Dietz Little Wizard, Dietz Junior, and the Dietz AJAX were (also) produced by Stübgen.
Selling iconic brand names
By the end of the 1940s, the machines in the factory were dated, and production became unprofitable. Investments were not possible due to the pricing of the competitors. As a result, Stübgen sold all brand names, except Bat, the patents, the customer base, and part of the machines to the company Hasag. Hasag had also acquired the company Kaestner & Toebelmann, which also produced storm lanterns. Stübgen subsequently continued to make tools for agriculture and horticulture. This was short-lived because of the Second World War, and it had to be produced for the German army. The factory was also dismantled after the war, and Stübgen was deregistered from the company register in 1948. HASAG did not have the brand name Bat Fledermaus but registered the English trademark BAT. They built a factory in Meuselwitz, Thuringia, in 1937. After the Second World War, the trademark BAT was used in the GDR and England. There are storm lanterns from Hasag with the imprint of Bat, and storm lanterns from Bat, with an imprint of Hasag. After the war, HASAG's production continued in the Feuerhand factories, and Feuerhand's blueprints were also used for new lanterns. Hasag disappeared after the Second World War, and in the meantime, the trade name was taken over by MEWA. The BAT storm lanterns were subsequently produced by VEB Sturmlanternenwerk Beierfeld, a part of Mewa founded in 1952. In the 1980s, the activities of VEB Sturmlanternenwerk were taken over by Foron, but the latter only produced storm lanterns for a short time and stopped production a short time later.
More about Stübgen & Co
The information up to 1948 comes from The Loveland Lantern Collection. The history on this site is provided by Achim Stübgen, who has researched many sources to arrive at a complete history. Many thanks also go to Achim Stübgen's permission to place this information and the images on this site. Find here the entire history of Lamp factory Fr. Stubgen & Co:
The text and images of Stübgen & Co are copyrighted by Achim Stübgen. Copyright © Achim Stübgen, Hannover 2015.
Contact: stuebgen@hotmail.de.