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Neue Photographische Gesellschaft

Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany, 1862–1921 (Printer)

The Neue Photographische Gesellschaft (NPG) was the first and for many years the biggest factory for real photographic bromide printing and the production of real photograph postcards. Arthur Schwarz (1862–1944) founded the company in 1894 in Berlin-Schöneberg, and there were later subsidiary companies in various cities including London, New York, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, and Milan. The company closed in 1921, although the NPG trademark and the postcard department were acquired by E. A. Schwerdtfeger, located first in Berlin and then in Dresden. That business closed with the outbreak of the Second World War. About 1906, the NPG was one of the postcard manufacturers that formed the Verein Photographischer Reproduktions-Anstalten GmbH (P.R.A.) (Association of Institutions of Photographic Reproductions) with headquarters at Berlin and directed by Arthur Schwartz. By 1907, the P.R.A. represented thirteen German and four Austrian publishing companies with the aim to have guaranteed minimum prices and fixed terms and conditions to avoid ruinous competition. The NPG left the P.R.A. in early 1908, after which the company used the registration date 1909 in the logo.

Neue Photographische Gesellschaft Logo
Neue Photographische Gesellschaft Logo

Verein Photographischer Reproduktions-Anstalten GmbH (P.R.A.) Logo
Verein Photographischer Reproduktions-Anstalten GmbH (P.R.A.) Logo