Feuerhand
Feuerhand is the most famous brand of hurricane lanterns in Europe, with a very remarkable logo, a hand with a flame in it. From 1936 the name Feuerhand was also added to the logo.
The Beginning
The history of Feuerhand started in Beierfeld; Hermann Nier ran a plumbing workshop from 1870 and made many other products, including lanterns. At that time of industrialization, many workshops disappeared, making way for factories where products were made with machines. The brothers Hermann and Ernst Nier started producing storm lanterns on a larger scale in 1893. In 1898 the Nier brothers were taken over by the Frankonia Albert Frank metalware. The brothers continued to work for this company in production.
Due to different opinions, Hermann Nier left this company in 1902 and started his storm lantern production with the company name Hermann Nier Feuerhandwerk. In the same year, Hermann Nier also filed a patent for the production of storm lanterns by using the stamping and folding techniques with tin-plating. Hot-dip so that no more soldering was involved. Hermann Nier's son Bruno Nier was the driving force behind Feuerhand at the beginning of the 20th century.
Before World War II
Between 1914 and 1918, many German lantern manufacturers had to (partly) convert their production to products for the war, then Hermann Nier Feuerhandwerk also produced hand grenades. Hermann Nier died in 1921. In 1914 the brand Feuerhand was a registered brand; in 1926, Feuerhand also registered the brand name Firehand in America. From 1920 there was a circle around the logo.
The storm lantern Feuerhand gained a lot of fame with is the Feuerhand Baby, which has been marketed since 1933 and is still (or is already being) produced in Germany. Partly because of the Feuerhand Baby, there was much disagreement between 1935 and 1939 with the American brand Dietz regarding patents. They also gained a lot of fame with the so-called Sturmkappe; this hood provided extra wind protection. Between 1918 and 1938, Feuerhand and Dietz were the largest producers of storm lanterns worldwide. They were jointly responsible for worldwide sales of 12 million storm lanterns per year, out of a global total of 18 million.
During World War II
Sales collapsed during World War II. At that time, lanterns were only produced for the German army. After the war, the Nier family was confiscated, and the machines were dismantled and transferred to the Soviet Union. The Russians arrested Ernst Bruno Nier. Ernst Bruno Nier died in Bautzen in 1950. The Nier family fled to Lüdenscheid in Westphalia and started again on a small scale with the production of storm lanterns. They then moved to Hohenlockstedt. In Beierfeld, the building, in which the blueprints were still present, was recommissioned by Volkseigener Betrieb Metallwaren (VEB MEWA). The Nier family still owned the brand name Feuerhand, so they used the brand name Bat, also a very well-known brand of storm lanterns.
When the heyday where over
From 1953 Nier was able to establish itself again on the international market, but the heyday for the storm lantern had already passed. In 1989 the Nier family left the original company, and Reco Im-Export took over the brand name. The company Feuerhand GmbH was founded in 2003 but went bankrupt in 2012. In 1989 production started again with the Feuerhand Baby Special 276; this was the only lantern that Feuerhand produced then. As of 2014, the brand name Feuerhand is owned by the Petromax group, also well known for its pressure lamp.
More about Feuerhand
Below is a fascinating website about Feuerhand and an explanation about fuel and fuse holders, which are made available by Dr. Phil. Detlef Bunk, for which thanks:
And offcourse on the website of Feuerhand: