• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

P OW E R HOU S E M U S E U M ARCHIVES GU I D E T O T H E ARCHIVES OF WUNDERLICH LIMITED PAUL WILSON 2009 CONTENTS Administrative History 3 Series List 6 Series Descriptions and Item Lists 8 COLLECTED ARCHIVES ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY Registration Number: A7437 Creator: Wunderlich Limited In July 1885 Ernest H C Wunderlich (1859 - 1945) arrived in Sydney to establish a business as an agent for various European manufacturers. He had been born in London in 1859, the son of Charles Frederick Wunderlich, an indigo dye merchant, and his German-born wife, Caroline, née Schmedes. The family, which included Ernest's brothers Frederick Otto (1861-1951) and Alfred (1865-1966), left England in the early 1870s to live in Vevey, Switzerland. The brothers were educated in Europe with Ernest studying architectural and mechanical drawing at the École Polytechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland before being apprenticed to a firm in Vevey that built large turbines for export. At the age of 18 he returned to London to work as a clerk, later progressing to a position as a travelling salesman with the same firm. Before coming to Australia he had also spent three years in South Africa as an agent selling pianos and other items. Economic circumstances had forced him to return to London in 1884 where he met his future wife, the German musician Fanny Amalia Hoesch. In Sydney Ernest Wunderlich is first listed in the Sands Directory in 1886 as a partner in Wunderlich and Raudnitz, manufacturer's agents, 472 George Street, Sydney and also as a merchant at 52 Pyrmont Bridge Road, Camperdown, which was also his private residence. He appears to have maintained a business partnership with Raudenitz until 1888. Initially Ernest Wunderlich concentrated upon two or three products he thought would prove successful. However a product he failed to promote eventually became the cornerstone of the family business. During a visit to the Wunderlich household a builder noticed a discarded product catalogue for stamped zinc mansard windows. He placed an order and more orders soon followed from builders and architects. In 1887 Alfred Wunderlich came to Australia to join his brother in business. They are listed in the 1888 Sands Directory as "agents and wine and spirit merchants" of 9 Underwood Street, Sydney. The brothers imported stamped zinc ceilings and other stamped architectural metal work from F Peters of Berlin but they were keen to enter into the manufacturing side of the business. During 1887 Ernest travelled to Europe to recruit a team of metal workers capable of producing stamped metal items and also of training Australian workers. The first patent for their designs was taken out in April 1888. During 1888 they installed stamped metal ceilings in smaller businesses such as Beale's piano showroom in George Street, Sydney and Adams' Café, also in George Street. The following year they completed a large contract with the Sydney City Council to install a metal ceiling in the concert hall at the Sydney Town Hall (then called the Centennial Hall). Other contracts followed in both Sydney and Melbourne. It is uncertain when they established their own manufacturing business but in the 1890 Sands Directory it is listed as being at 492 Kent Street, Sydney. In December 1889 the brothers sold their patents for stamped metal ceilings to the Melbourne furniture firm of W H Rocke & Company. Ernest Wunderlich moved to Melbourne to become manager of Rocke's architectural department while Alfred became manager of the Sydney branch. Rocke & Company also leased land in Baptist St, Redfern and in 1890 built a small factory for metal fabrication. The economic depression of the early 1890s significantly impacted upon Rocke & Co and in late 1892 the Sydney branch became insolvent. Ernest relinquished his position with the company and rejoined his brother in business in Sydney. The Wunderlich brothers bought back their patents from Rocke & Company and in 1893 established a limited liability company with capital of 10,000 pounds under the name Wunderlich Patent Ceiling and Roofing Company Limited with their factory being at Rocke's former site on Baptist St, Redfern. The roofing section of the Wunderlich business began by chance. In 1892 a consignment of terracotta roof tiles arrived in Sydney from Marseille, France but the consignee, the Wunderlich brothers' former employers W H Rocke & Company, was unable to proceed with the contract. A deadlock ensued with the Belgian Consul in Sydney being asked to intervene by the tile manufacturers. He contacted the Wunderlichs who ultimately were able to sell the cargo. In 1893 the Wunderlich brothers took over Rocke's entire terracotta department. The French manufacturers, The United Tileries of Marseille, commenced regular shipments to Australia and by 1897 the Wunderlichs were advertising themselves as the sole Australian agent for imported "Marseilles Tiles". The company initially leased and later bought the freehold to a private wharf at Careening Cove, Neutral Bay, to unload and store shipments of the red tiles from Marseille which were to become such a feature of the Australian suburban landscape. The first Wunderlich catalogue was published in 1893 but in reality it was a virtual reproduction of an existing German product catalogue. In 1895 Wunderlich produced a new catalogue which for the first time referred to its Redfern operations. In 1900 Dr Otto Wunderlich visited his brothers in Australia. He was so impressed by what he saw that he decided to sell his medical practice in Tottenham, London, and buy a stake in the Wunderlich company as the third director. In his autobiography Ernest said that "right from the start [Otto] became the brain of the concern. His scientific training enabled him to remodel the works, and his conceptions of accountancy and bookkeeping revolutionized the office routine." In 1904 the company was incorporated with a paid-up capital of 25,000 pounds. During that year a Melbourne branch was also opened at 243 Collins Street. An export trade was also developed around this time. The company looked to establish a distinctive style and employed Samuel V Rowe, a graduate of the South Kensington School of Art in London, as its principal designer. Rowe introduced the art-nouveau patterns into the Wunderlich range as well as stylised designs of Australian flora and fauna. In 1906 the company registered its first trademark - Wunderlich Sydney. In 1908, after years of fierce competition involving what the company described as "disastrous cost-cutting", Wunderlich Patent Ceiling and Roofing Company Limited and W H Rocke & Company effected an amalgamation. Wunderlich Limited was formed with a nominal capital of 200,000 pounds and paid up capital of 144,500 ponds. The Directors of Rocke & Company made it a condition of the amalgamation that the Wunderlich brothers remain as directors of Wunderlich Limited for life, which was embodied in the articles of association. On 12 October 1908 new administrative offices were opened at the Baptist Street site. By this time the complex had expanded so much that it had frontages to Baptist Street, Cleveland Street and Marriott Street. A city office and showrooms had also operated from the basement of the Royal Exchange Building, 56 Pitt Street, Sydney, from at least 1899. During 1908 factories were also opened in Wellington, New Zealand, and in Perth, Western Australia, with branch offices in Brisbane, Queensland (1909); Adelaide, South Australia (1910); and in Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania (1910). In 1913 the company bought one of its competitors, Embosteel Limited, and in June 1914 purchased the Sydney shopfront and showcase business of John Hughes Limited. The Wunderlich brothers saw themselves as "idealists in business", with commerce being more than "mere money- getting". "Commerce, in our opinion, is, in fact, civilisation itself. To soften working conditions, to mitigate the conflict between capital and labour, requires the exercise of principles that are exceptional and, we believe, are justified. We are content to be judged by our works". They also described their employees as "fellow workers" who were paid award rates, worked in reasonable conditions, benefited from financial schemes put in place by the company, and participated in company organised social occasions. Ernest's interests were music, Egyptology, astronomy and deep-sea fishing. Alfred was a keen singer, a great lover of the French language and culture, and had wide business interests. Otto, the only one of the brothers with formal academic qualifications, maintained an interest in science and the French language. During World War 1 the Wunderlich brothers had to contend with anti-German hysteria and successfully sued a magazine which accused them of being born in Germany. The First World War also caused a major disruption to the importation of steel, Marseilles tiles as well as raw materials. Wunderlich Limited saw these challenges as a business opportunity. In 1915 a subsidiary company was formed to manufacture asbestos cement sheets at a factory at Cabarita. The product was named "Durabestos" and used asbestos fibres from the company's mines in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, and Barraba, New South Wales. Wunderlich's Redfern factory manufactured non-metal ceilings in other materials including plaster and wood. Tile Works were built at Rosehill in Sydney and Brunswick in Melbourne and commenced production in 1916. Later similar works would be built at Edwardstown in Adelaide (1919) and Ferny Grove in Brisbane (1928). After World War 1 Wunderlich Limited began to manufacture architectural terracotta and also ceramic facings which were used for building facades. In 1923 construction commenced on new works at Rosehill and during 1926 a second works was erected at Sunshine in Melbourne. The Sunshine factory also produced durabestos building sheets. The production of metal ceilings was recommenced after the war using steel from John Lysaght (Australia) Pty Ltd and during the 1920s art deco designs were introduced by the firm's principal designers, George Paterson and Ralph Ferris.

Load more

  458

Copy Link