Großberger & Kurz > Schwan-Stabilo (1855-2021+)

When Georg Conrad Großberger (*1826;†?) and Hermann Christian Kurz (*1825;†1897) opened their pencil factory in Nuremberg in 1855, the competition was already fierce. As early as 1840, several factories had already been established in which pencils were being manufactured using modern machines and production methods. Even then, the Nuremberg pencils were exported to many European countries and the USA. Großberger and Kurz took the competition as a role model and initially grew quickly, until they ran into financial difficulties in 1864. A year later, Gustav Adam Schwanhäußer (*1840;†1908) bought the small factory and brought it back on track with investments, foreign business and product innovations (e.g. the copying pencil, with which documents can be copied in administration and accounting). In the period before the First World War, other new writing implements were brought onto the market, including the Stabilo thin-core colored pencil with a very strong lead that, unlike many other competing products, did not break off easily. The current component "Stabilo" in the company name is derived from this product. 

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REFERENCES

[1] 150 Jahre Schwann-Stabilo 1855-2005 Eine Unternehmensgeschichte im Zeichen des Schwans

[2] Gutmann, Adam; Bayerns Industrie und Handel : zu Ehren der Jubiläums-Landes-Ausstellung Nürnberg und des 100jähr. Bestehens des Königreich Bayern: Schwan-Bleistift-Fabrik, page 81.

[3] https://www.schwan-stabilo.com/de/ 

[4] Gustav Adam Schwanhäußer, https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz117976.html 

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwan-Stabilo 

[6] Barry, Charles Alfred; Primer of design, Lee & Shepard, Boston, 1878, p.47-48. [Internet Archive] 

[7] Trademarks: Schwanhäußer, vormals Grossberger & Kurz, Der Markenschutz: allgemeines Zeichen-Register für das Deutsche Reich, Berlin, Jahrgang 1875 [GoogleBooks]