DR. HEINRICH TRAUN MEDALS

With regard to the hard rubber medal mentioned briefly in an earlier issue, and by way of some coincidental background information, Ms. Susan Brustmann, director of the Poppenhusen Institute in College Point, sent a note asking if I could assist a gentleman in Hamburg working at the Museum der Arbeit, (Museum of Work). It is located in the building that once housed the New-York Hamburger Gummi-Waaren Compagnie, a rubber factory that Conrad Poppenhusen founded in Hamburg in 1871. He was seeking information on the Traun Rubber Company, another Hamburg firm that had opened a factory in College Point in the late 1890s.

I was able to send him a lot of information and look forward to reading what he writes. When doing research for what became my Poppenhusen biography published in 2004, I had contacted the museum, and in appreciation for the information received, sent a copy of my Poppenhusen biography in which the name Christian Julius Traun appears. He was the father of Dr. Heinrich Traun, who in 1856 founded the Harburger Gummi-Kamm-Compagnie, in English the Hamburg Rubber Comb Company.

 

The medal was designed by Dutch sculptor and medalist Johann von Langa, a coin engraver and cutter. It features a left-facing profile of Dr. Heinrich Traun (1838-1909) along with the inscription July MDCCCXCIII, the Roman numeral for 1893. According to Dr. Hendrik Böttcher of the New York-Hamburg Gummi-Waaren Compagnie, formerly the Hamburg Rubber Comb Company, it is possible that the medal was produced for the World's Columbian Exposition, but because company archives were unfortunately lost, it is not possible to confirm that a rubber version was produced, distributed or displayed in the German pavilion located in the Manufactures Building.

 

According to Dr. Böttcher, it is probable that the New York-Hamburg Gummi-Waaren Compagnie did make hard rubber tokens for their trading posts in Africa. Around 1902 the company changed its name to Dr. Heinrich Traun & Söhne. (and Son)

A second medal recognizes a man named Karstens for his twenty-five years (1898-1923) of loyal work at the Dr. Heinrich Traun & Söhne Company. The obverse shows a right-facing profile of Traun, who in 1901 was elected to the Hamburg Senate, hence the inscription. This medal was also designed by Johann von Langa, whose initials are inscribed above the first m in KAMM. Dr. Böttcher speculates that the medal was designed sometime between 1902 and 1911 when Langa's name last appeared in the Hamburg City Directory. He supposed further and accurately that the company might have cast a number of them and then engraved the name on the back manually, in this case in 1923. Mr. Karstens given name is not mentioned.

The reverse shows a female figure holding a hammer extending a congratulatory laurel branch. The beehive is symbolic of industry, thriftiness and service, in this case faithful service. A second medal dated 1916 acknowledging 10 years of work went to auction in 2022 in Germany. It showed only the Obverse, so the recipient's name is unknown. I've written to the auction house and hope to receive a positive reply.

 

 

Jim adds:

 

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
VOCABULARY TERM: PRODUCT MEDAL (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n41a22.html)

 

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