East German Theatre Spotlight Floor Lamp from Veb Narva, 1980s

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An original east german theatre spotlight by veb narva, once part of a state combine that supplied lighting across the … Read more An original east german theatre spotlight by veb narva, once part of a state combine that supplied lighting across the entire gdr, mounted on a german army field tripod from munich's ertel-werk.

veb narva's roots trace back to a former osram wire factory in east berlin's friedrichshain district, producing lamps on that site since 1912. After the war split germany, and split osram along with it, the east berlin plant continued from 1949 as veb berliner glühlampenwerk, named for rosa luxemburg. The narva trademark, built from the german words for nitrogen, argon, and vacuum, was first registered in 1957, originally for a sister plant supplying filament lamps for vehicles, railways, ships, scientific instruments, and film and theatre production. By 1969, the various narva plants across the gdr merged into a single combine, becoming the country's central manufacturer of light sources, employing as many as six thousand people in berlin alone by the late 1970s. Spotlights like this one lit stages across east germany at a time when narva's name was essentially the only one on the socket.

the tripod beneath it tells an entirely different story. Ertel-werk of munich traced its own history to 1802, building some of germany's finest astronomical and surveying instruments for over a century, work exact enough that the company manufactured components for the enigma cipher machine during the second world war. This folding wooden field tripod, issued to the postwar bundeswehr in west germany, now carries an east german stage light, a small, physical trace of a divided country standing reunited in one floor lamp.

the original beam-adjustment knob still works, shifting the light from a tight spot to a soft flood. The spotlight measures 46 x 44 x 30 cm. Mounted on the tripod, the total height adjusts from 125 to 170 cm. This piece has an attribution mark,
i am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution,
european plug (up to 250v).the wiring of this item may be original and might need replacement, if not specified otherwise. See less