Carl Halfar Uniformen-Mützen Fabrik
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The Carl Halfar Military Visors Caps Factory[1] was founded in 1890 by Carl Halfar[2] (1865 Mörchingen-1936 Berlin). The company produced till 1932 all kinds of visors and caps for military units, authorities and civil companies.
History
[edit]After Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933, the company became one of the main military cap suppliers of the German army and Nazi organisations like the Africa Korps,[3][4] the Waffen-SS, the Luftwaffe, Organisation Todt, and Hitler Youth.
The company was one of the first and main suppliers of Pith helmets and caps for the Africa Korps.
Due to the growing production in 1937 they moved to a four-story factory building at Prinzenallee 74[5] in the Wedding district of Berlin. The sole owner and manager of the company in Berlin between 1935 and 1968 was Anton Halfar (*1907 (Berlin), †1968).Anton Halfar a party member and a business graduate since 1925, studied law at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin in 1929 and received his doctorate in law in 1934 from the law faculty at the University of Rostock.
From 1942 to 1945 the company opened a second manufacturing location in the city of Gniezno in occupied Poland under the name Carl Halfar Berlin and Gnesen Uniförmen-Mützen und Helmfabrik[6]. Albert Martini was the operations manager in Gniezno. There the company worked together with the Armaments Command Inspection 211 of the Wehrmacht District XXI.
The Carl Halfar Uniform Cap Factory employed Jewish forced laborers between 1938 and 1945.[7][8][9] Among many others also the Holocaust survivor Horst Selbiger (Berlin 1928) was used for forced labor in the Carl Halfar factory. To date Horst Selbiger has not been compensated for this.
After the end of the Second World War in 1945 the company manufactured visor caps for the Deutsche Post, the BVG, the Deutsche Bahn, the prison system, the Berlin police and the Federal Border Guard under the new name Ce-Ha Prima Carl Halfar Mützenfabrik. The company closed in 1983.
References
[edit]- ^ PANZERDIVISIONEN EN. Ak-interactive, S.l.
- ^ Anton Halfar: Gutgläubiger Erwerb einer dem Gemeingebrauch oder dem öffentlichen oder kirchlichen Dienst gewidmeten Sache. Pfau, Rostock 1934, S. 56 Lebenslauf.
- ^ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mike-Seager-Thomas/publication/370124192_Saving_the_Afrikamutze_Cap_Preservation_in_the_Long_Term_Artefact_Services_Research_Papers_12/links/644036492eca706c8b6d41b0/Saving-the-Afrikamuetze-Cap-Preservation-in-the-Long-Term-Artefact-Services-Research-Papers-12.pdf
- ^ Deutsche Afrikakorps (1941-1943). History, Organization and Uniforms of the German Ground Forces in North Africa, Ricardo Recio Cardona , Ak interaktive, 2022.
- ^ "Berliner Adress-, Telefon- und Branchenbücher 1707 – 1991/1992 - Digitale Landesbibliothek Berlin". digital.zlb.de. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ^ Reich business card index Carl Halfar Berlin 1944. Number: 0/1316/0014
- ^ Helmut Bräutigam, Doris Fürstenberg, Bernt Roder: Zwangsarbeit in Berlin 1938-1945. Hrsg.: Arbeitskreis Berliner Regionalmuseen. Metropol, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-936411-11-5, S. 158.
- ^ "Simon Kleinberger | Stolpersteine in Berlin". www.stolpersteine-berlin.de. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ^ "Selma Wurzel | Stolpersteine in Berlin". www.stolpersteine-berlin.de. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
Further reading
[edit]German Visor Caps of the Second World War, Von Guilhem Touratier, Laurent Charbonneau · 2013
Heer & SS Visor Caps & Uniforms, Von Jan Meland, Trond Elvan · 2017
ARMY PANZER UNIF-EMS 13. Von Wade Krawczyk, The Crowood Press · 2000
Die deutsche Armee im Ersten Weltkrieg, Uniformierung und Ausrüstung .1914 bis 1918, Von Jürgen Kraus · 2004
Adressbuch der deutschen Textil- und Bekleidungsbetriebe. Band 1.1950