DISRAELI DOCUMENTS

Suwe

Austrian Patent 179,972 - Suwe Cortina main image Austrian Patent 179,972 - Suwe Cortina main image Austrian Patent 179,972 - Suwe Cortina main image


see also Austrian Patent # 179,972 - Suwe 1953

see also Austrian Patent # 179,972 - Suwe 1953

Austrian Patent 179,972 - Suwe Cortina thumbnail

Suwewerk Siegmund Werner was a company specialising in manufacturing metal products for sports use based in Wien. Siegmund Werner seems to have been its founder and/or owner, and it is possible that the word ‘Suwe’ is a contraction of his name.

The company’s main line of business seems to have been ski bindings and other engineered parts and accessories for skiing. It registered a stream of patents for ski-related devices from 1931 to 1969. I can find no evidence for its existence after 1969.

Intriguingly, a Google search brings up an advert in the Canadian Jewish Chronicle from April 7th 1944, placed by Siegmund Werner Limited, a manufacturer of ski equipment, possibly based in Ottawa. There is a gap in the stream of Austrian patents between 1937 and 1947 and it is possible that Siegmund Werner was jewish and decamped to Canada during this period to escape from Naziism. It is, of course, equally possible that the Canadian company is unrelated to the Austrian company in any way.

I believe Suwe first produced a derailleur (under the name Suwe Sportwerke) in 1934. I don’t know any more details - but the Suwe Cortina model in this collection is a sophisticated device for 1954.