Tabletop tripods

When its ore deposits were finally exhausted, timber from the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) forests became the raw material that both shaped the region and made a living for its people. Traditional wood carving, wooden toys and sports equipment has made the Erzgebirge region known throughout the world. The history of Berlebach Stativtechnik (tripod technology) is also intimately connected with it.

It all began in 1898 near the art and university city of Dresden in Saxony. Businessman Peter Otto Berlebach laid the foundation stone for the oldest German tripod factory here - to our knowledge the only factory in the world which has operated continuously from that time on the development and production of wooden tripods. Almost from the start, Berlebach also supplied its tripods and other wooden photography accessories to other countries - as documented in the 1906 ‘Hamburg Export Handbook’. England was at that time was the most important export destination.

In 1918, company founder Otto Berlebach retired and sold his company to three former employees of the Ernemann camera factory in Dresden. The new owners Dittmar, Biskaborn and Heisinger, were experienced experts in wood and metal construction as well as in the commercial sector, and brought their extensive expertise in the field of photography into the company. They kept company a family-owned business for many decades. It was only nationalized in 1972, continuing as a state-owned photography and cinema accessories business. From lightweight portable to heavy studio tripods, they produced the entire range of tripods both for the GDR and all the other Eastern Bloc countries.

In 1990, as the company was placed under trust administration, a wave of privatization swept over the GDR economy. It also brought the opportunity of a new start for Germany's ‘ancient’ tripod factory in Mulda, to let it continue its proven, successful traditions. But before that happened, there were three long years before the trusteeship office, after endless negotiations, finally agreed to privatization - literally at the very last minute. Wolfgang Fleischer, who has worked as an executive at the company since 1962 and is now the owner of Berlebach Stativtechnik, succeeded in saving the company from bankruptcy. He bought land from the trust agency, the production facilities and the name Berlebach itself.

In July 1993 he recommenced the manufacture of solid ash wood tripods. Investments in new wood and metal processing machines then was a prerequisite for competitive production. There was a great deal of interest when the privatized Berlebach Company’s tripod technology appeared for the first time in 1994 at the ‘Photokina’ international world trade fair and it presented its range of newly developed and improved ash wood tripods. Since that time, the firm’s global exports have expanded constantly, so that they are currently shipping products to over 25 countries.