German Retail Stores Handling Boys' Clothing: Tietz


Figure 1.--These boys were photographed at the Tietz Department store in Berlin. The portrait is undated, but we would guess about 1910. Notice the boy's Zeppelin cap. We might guess that their mother also bought their caps and sailor suits at the Tietz Department Store. Image courtey of the MD collection.

Oscar Tietz in 1882 borrowed money from his his uncle, Hermann Tietz to establish the Hermann Tietz Button, Thread, Embroidery, Linen and Woollens Store in Gera. Tietz's firm in 1896 was renamed a department store--Warenhaus Hermann Tietz. The flagship store was located in Berlin, but there were also stores in other German cities like Düsseldorf ( built by by Olbrich in 1906-08). Tietz like other department stores offered products and services that only the wealthy had previously been able to afford before. Prices were fixed and comparitively low. Customers could browse and goods could be returned with out question. Mothers could not only buy cloths, but also have their photographs taken at Tietz. Therewere many store brands like Eltag phonograph records. As Tietz and other important German department stores were Jewish owned thy were targets after the NAZIs seized power in 1933, first from boycotts and then the Aryanization program. The surviving stores were returned to the Tietz family after the War and operated as the Hertie Department stores. Hertie was a nick name for the founder--Hermann (Hertie) Tietz. Hertie was absorbed by Karstadt effect from 1999.

Founding

Oscar Tietz in 1882 borrowed money from his his uncle, Hermann Tietz to establish the Hermann Tietz Button, Thread, Embroidery, Linen and Woollens Store in Gera. Tietz's firm in 1896 was renamed a department store--Warenhaus Hermann Tietz.

Location

The flagship store was located in Berlin, but there were also stores in various sections of Berlin other major German cities. Tietz in 1928 had 17 branches, 11 in Berlin and 6 in other cities . The Düsseldorf was built by Olbrich in 1906-08). Many of the Tietz stores in other cities were owned by family members. Gustav Gerst, the son-in-law of Markus Tietz, who later became president of the company, operated the Bamberg Tietz store. Bamberg is a medieval city in Northern Bavaria. There are many old churches and palaces. The Tietz Department Store was founded there in 1886 and looked like a palace itself. The small business owners in town always were opposed to this big store. The Bamberg store was famous and gave work to 500 employees. Frau Tietz, the wife of Markus, was instrumental in achieving insurance and pensions for the workers and she also had the topfloor of the building made into a recreation area.

Products and Servivce

Tietz like other department stores offered services that only the wealthy had previously been able to afford before. Prices were fixed and comparitively low. Customers could browse and goods could be returned with out question. Mothers could not only buy cloths, but also have their photographs taken at Tietz. There were many store brands like Eltag phonograph records.

The NAZIs

As Tietz and other important German department stores were Jewish owned thy were targets after the NAZIs seized power in 1933, first from boycotts and then the Aryanization program. I do not yet have full details on what happened at Tietz during the NAZI era. One reader tells us that an attempt at Aryanization in 1938 did not succeed. The Bamberg store was closed in 1939. Gustav Gerst the Bamberg store directorand and his wife Ella Tietz Gerst escaped to Sweden in 1937 and settled later in the United Stats. The Bamberg store survived World War II without significant damage. Many other Tietz stores, especially the ones in Berlin, were damaged or destroyed in the War.

Hertie

The stores after World War II were called Hertie a nick name for the founder--Hermann (Hertie) Tietz. They were reopened under the newly-founded Hertie company. The Bamberg store in 1951 was returned to the heirs of the Tietz family and named "Hertie". That was called in German "Rueckerstattungsverfahren" ( return procedure). I'm not sure why it tooked so long. There must have been thousands of claims from all kind of NAZI-victims in the newly established German Federal Republic. A German reader tells us that "'Rückerstattungsverfahren' took so long because as one can imagine there were so many cases, and there were few who could do the work because many civil servants were not yet de-NAZIified." Of course for most there was no restitution possible as whole families and even communities were murdered in the Hollocaust and survivors no longer existed. Hertie was taken over by Karstadt effective from 1999.





Christopher Wagner






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Created: November 18, 2002
Last updated: November 24, 2002