Warning: session_start(): open(/var/cpanel/php/sessions/ea-php74/sess_cc67f09237cfaa1a0a6c5e586f243fe74e0f9dd91e93e140, O_RDWR) failed: No space left on device (28) in /home/devwehrmacht/public_html/forums/includes/vb5/frontend/controller/page.php on line 71 Warning: session_start(): Failed to read session data: files (path: /var/cpanel/php/sessions/ea-php74) in /home/devwehrmacht/public_html/forums/includes/vb5/frontend/controller/page.php on line 71 Godet - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums
CEJ Books

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Godet

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Godet

    I can become overwhelmed with the prospect of writing out a big project, assembling the evidence for presentation, etc. Usually, I plan it and plan it, and never find the time to complete it. So for this brief history of Godet, I decided simply to write out the narrative of things I feel very confident are true, and let the discussion lead us into whatever evidence needs to be presented and corrections need to be made. I think I will follow this up with a timeline of sorts, with proprietors, company names and addresses mapped against dates. The following information is based on my own amateur research over the past year. My sources included, first, this and other forums, the awards themselves, and also some period documentation.

    Incidentally, this project originally began as an attempt to systematize and order Godet EK frames, cores, and marks. That project is still ongoing, and I will probably present it at some later date.

    Your questions and corrections are warmly welcomed. Let's see what we can piece together between us. So, in narrative form, I present a very brief history of Godet, as I believe it to have occurred.


    Godet

    Godet was founded in 1761 by 29-year old Jean Godet. Their first known address, which I presume to have been their first address, was at Schlossfreiheit 4 in Berlin. Initially, the company made its reputation designing and manufacturing religious jewelry. Around 1796, Jean was succeeded as proprietor by his 26 year old son, Jean Jacques Godet. His son Jean Frédéric Godet followed. In 1828, under the stewardship of Jean Frédéric Godet, the firm was named the court jeweler to Wilhelm of Prussia, who was then the 31-year old Crown Prince.

    In 1861, Wilhelm became King of Prussia, whereupon he designated Godet, by then run by Jean Frédéric's 38-year old son and successor Jean Pierre, official “Purveyor to the Court” of Prussia. Also sometime around this date, Godet was renamed Godet & Sohn, or Godet & Son.

    In 1865, Jean Frédéric died, and left his son Jean Pierre sole proprietor of Godet & Sohn. The next year Jean Pierre had a son himself, and named him Eugene. It is Eugene Godet who brought Godet into the 20th C., and eventually sold his family's business.

    In 1871, while Godet & Sohn was still based at their original location on Schlossfreiheit, Wilhelm I became German Kaiser in Versailles. The German Empire, or 2nd Reich, was born. It is during this time that Godet & Sohn is suspected of having designed and manufactured the "Type B" core to the 1870 Iron Cross. Certainly they manufactured Iron Crosses of both classes, as well as most of the well-known orders, decorations and medals of the Prussian state. They also began manufacturing orders and decorations of nations around the globe, as well as miniatures.

    In 1877, the firm was renamed J. Godet & Sohn. This was the first of many name switches between Godet & Sohn, and J. Godet & Sohn, over the following 50+ years. I will not document every switch here, as they seemed to happen with some regularity and may in fact have been unimportant. In 1880, Jean Pierre Godet died. It is unclear to me, at this point, into whose hands the business passed at this stage, but under the stewardship of someone new in 1883, J. Godet & Sohn expanded their operations to include a ribbon manufacturing factory, also located at Schlossfreiheit 4. Three years later, in 1886, 20-year old Eugene Godet entered the family business for the first time, but not (at first) as proprietor.

    In 1891 J. Godet & Sohn moved for the first time, to new premises at Schloß Platz 14. This move was temporary, however, and on 1 September 1893 they moved to new headquarters at 167 Friedrichstraße. In 1902, the company had a new device, a telephone, installed in their offices. Their new premises contained workshops for manufacturing orders, decorations, and medals, as well as those for weaving ribbons, in-house. Whether the older locations also had such facilities is not clear to me at this moment.

    J. Godet & Sohn began advertising specifically for mounting services in 1904. Anyone with medals to mount, whether made by Godet or by anyone else, could bring them by the Friedrichstraße address to be mounted by their specialists.

    J. Godet & Sohn was 150 years old in 1911. That year Eugene, now 45, took over as sole proprietor of the family business. Their Sesquicentennial Anniversary Celebrations were attended by Kaiser Wilhelm II himself. He used the occasion to name J. Godet & Sohn Royal Court Jewelers, certainly the highest honor that could be bestowed upon a jeweler during the height of Wilhelmine Germany. After 1911, most of Godet's products and advertising materials would carry the designation "Königliche Hofjuweliere."

    In 1913, J. Godet & Sohn moved to larger headquarters at 55 Charlottenstraße, and in 1923 became a publicly traded company, or Aktiengesellschaft, with shareholders.

    In 1929, for reasons that are still unknown to me, J. Godet & Sohn was sold to a competitor, J.H. Werner. The headquarters of J. Godet & Sohn were moved to 173 Friedrichstraße, the long-time premises of J.H. Werner, and the two firms began making and marketing products as Godet-Werner, including orders, medals, and mounted Ordensspangen.

    However, Eugene and Jean Godet (presumably Eugene's brother) continued to lease a space at 55 Charlottenstraße, and founded a new firm, which they called Gebrüder Godet, in 1931. Apparently this was legally defensible by the terms of the sale of J. Godet & Sohn to J.H. Werner. Somewhat disingenuously, Gebrüder Godet advertised themselves as the "Oldest Orders Jewelers" in Prussia, while J. Godet & Sohn, now part of J.H. Werner, advertised, "Since 1761."

    In 1932, Werner moved their subsidiary J. Godet & Sohn, out of their Friedrichstraße headquarters and into new premises at 12 Unter den Linden. Gebrüder Godet got a leg up when they were chosen to design the Hindenburg Cross for those who participated in the Great War. Apparently the cross was personally designed by Eugene.

    With the coming of World War II and the founding of the PKZ and the LdO, it was Eugene's new company Gebrüder Godet rather than the old Königliche Hofjuweliere that received the licenses to manufacture the new awards, and in fact, although J. Godet & Sohn continued to exist, I do not personally know what they even made.
    Last edited by Don Doering; 01-23-2011, 08:32 AM.
    Best regards,
    Streptile

    Looking for ROUND BUTTON 1939 EK1 Spange cases (LDO or PKZ)

    #2
    An excellent and long overdue idea for a thread Trevor!!

    As I can see this thread becoming quite a valuable tool, it would be good to know the sources for your information - one would assume Jacobs' "Court Jewellers of the World" featured in there somewhere... but what else.. a sort of biliography for cross reference, if you like.

    I have a catalogue which I am desperate to pin a date on, so I have a couple of quick questions before we explore this further and you can share with us how you arrived at the conclusion they were bought out/merged/worked with J H Werner.

    Below is the back page of the catalogue showing clearly the firms name (J Godet & Sohn) and their address as 'Charlottenstrasse 55, Berlin'.

    If I'm not mistaken and according to your timeline above, that would place the catalogue as circa 1913 - 1929. Correct??

    I'm not familiar enough with the dates of institution of any of the medals pictured in this catalogue, but here is a link to the whole catalogue.. GODET CATALOGUE ... but perhaps as a way of cross referencing your dates, you or some other members can pitch in and state whether the medals pictured and included in that catalogue correspond with the dates you have listed above. Anything instituted post 1930 would mean further investigation.

    (There is plenty of reason to assume some sort of overlapping of names/addresses could have occured, but it should be noted there is no mention of J H Werner anywhere in it...)

    Well done!

    Marshall
    Attached Files

    Comment


      #3
      1902
      Godet was already court jeweller off kaiser and king officially in 1902

      they used fore they're factory the Behren .Stasse and Französchische Strasse

      also made Orden Garnierungen and Orden Arrangements in 1902
      as well as Orden Sterne

      beside that jewels and gold and silver product where advertised and made to

      1870

      if godet & sohn made the B type iron ek 1870 they did not use the mark godet & sohn

      but only the mark Godet on the ek1 ,,,,so used the A type core to put in the ek1...mostly

      that is wy the B type is suspected to be off later date then 1871
      by many collectors
      ( let say 1880 / 1896 in to 1902 )


      I distance myself to the general idea that the B type is Godet
      to me it is a product off an iron casting factory as well as the A type
      but that is a different discussion ,,
      Attached Files
      Last edited by Montgomery Burns; 01-23-2011, 04:55 AM.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Montgomery Burns View Post
        ....Godet was already court jeweller off kaiser and king officially in 1902...
        Kay

        So we are dealing in facts here, is the document you posted above clearly showing J Godet as Housejeweller to the King verifiable as dated circa 1902?

        Marshall

        Comment


          #5
          I have here a 1925 advertising part that confirmed some address .

          this advertisement was in the document set off a man called Otto Heuer

          along with the Ehren Gedenk Münze dokument
          ,,stamped by Ordens Rat der Deutschen Ehren Legion wit a stamp and date 1925
          Attached Files
          Last edited by Montgomery Burns; 01-23-2011, 05:09 AM.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Biro View Post
            Kay

            So we are dealing in facts here, is the document you posted above clearly showing J Godet as Housejeweller to the King verifiable as dated circa 1902?

            Marshall
            yes its in the advertisement section off my catalogue off Deutscher Offiziers Verein October 1902
            Attached Files

            Comment


              #7
              Thankyou Kay - this is exactly the sort of thing we are looking for..

              So we can clearly say that J Godet and Son was advertising in 1902 as being both Court Jeweller and located at Charlottenstrasse 55.

              I think Trevor has the date as 1913.

              Great stuff!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Biro View Post
                Thankyou Kay - this is exactly the sort of thing we are looking for..

                So we can clearly say that J Godet and Son was advertising in 1902 as being both Court Jeweller and located at Charlottenstrasse 55.

                I think Trevor has the date as 1913.

                Great stuff!
                hold on
                keep things apart from each other ,,fore the readers off this thread



                ...

                1902 court jeweller ,, located friedrichstrasse ,Behren Stasse and Französchische Strasse

                1925 ,,Charlottenstrasse 55. and maker off Deutscher Ehrendenkmünze 1914

                documented with period evidence ...








                .
                Last edited by Montgomery Burns; 01-23-2011, 05:32 AM.

                Comment


                  #9
                  about the maker off the D.E.D.M

                  Godet is specifically named in the regulations fore the D.E.D.M as producer off the medal and named still court jeweller by the
                  Ordenrat by the regulation publishing at 01/06/1924...
                  send along with the documents to the owner ...

                  stating that the medal is not freely available on the marked ,,,but only made and sold at Godet or appointed middleman....( in this case Paul Küst )

                  owners off the time at that point 235000.









                  .
                  Attached Files
                  Last edited by Montgomery Burns; 01-23-2011, 06:54 AM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    a scan fore some Moore info ,,,to read fore yourselves

                    especially this medal is meant to be taken very seriously by Germans
                    Attached Files
                    Last edited by Montgomery Burns; 01-23-2011, 06:37 AM.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I would guess that technically, Godet had every right to proclaim in their 1902 advertisement that they were "court jewelers to Kaisers and Konigs" because historically, they had been Bestowed that honor on two previous occasions during Wilhelm 1's reign.

                      The linking of the 1925 document to the Charlottenstrasse address is interesting though and nicely corroborates Trevors dates.

                      Fascinating thread... Bring on the J H Werner connection..

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by streptile View Post
                        ....although J. Godet & Sohn continued to exist, I do not personally know what they even made...(during WW2)....
                        J Godet & Sohn were of course reputed to have made the Spanish Cross with Brilliants http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...+Spanish+cross and from the Unter den Linden address, which would have presumably meant they were operating alongside and possibly even in competition with, Gebruder Godet during the war until one of them was bombed out of business in 1944. This would make sense if they were at this stage under the control of J H Werner.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          At 1902 they where in competition ..

                          They are both separately advertising in my dov catalogue

                          but operating from the same street..





                          .
                          Attached Files

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I can confirm that in 1933 Gebr. Godet was operating at the
                            55 Chalottenstrasse address.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              The on-line Berlin phone book shows there is currently a "Gebruder Godet & Co." presently at Wieland Strasse 16, 10629 Berlin (Charlottenburg); phone number +49 (030) 3244223

                              They are listed as being in the wholesale trade of books, magazines, newspapers, music and other printed matter.

                              Same name, same are of Berlin, although many decades later a different business? Anyone interested in stopping by the store to talk to the owners and see if there is any relevant family history?

                              Comment

                              Users Viewing this Thread

                              Collapse

                              There is currently 1 user online. 0 members and 1 guests.

                              Most users ever online was 10,032 at 08:13 PM on 09-28-2024.

                              Working...
                              X