Litfass ends messy advertising
By the mid-1800s, Berlin-born Ernst Litfass was tired of the rampant, untidy advertising and graffiti that had become the norm in his hometown. People routinely hung notices and other materials on walls, doors, fences and trees. It made the city look cluttered and unkempt. In hopes of putting an end to these objectionable practices, the printer and publisher approached city officials with an idea: Litfass proposed the erection of columns throughout the city to which residents would attach their notices and messages.
Litfass gains a monopoly
After years of negotiations, on 5 December 1854, Berlin’s President of Police, Karl Ludwig von Hinkeldey, finally granted permission for Litfass to erect the first of his proposed “advertisement columns.” In fact, the City of Berlin issued him a ten-year monopoly on these columns. In return, Litfass had to agree to also publicize public service announcements. The next year, in 1855, the first 100 columns were erected, bearing the name of their inventor – Litfass Saeulen (Litfass columns). The idea caught on. Both parties to the agreement realized that they benefitted from this new method of advertising: City fathers found that it helped them to censor public information while advertisers could rest assured that their announcements remained visible throughout the rental period without someone obscuring their ads. Ten years later, Litfass had an additional 50 columns erected.
Litfass Saeule in Berlin, Photo by J. Elke Ertle © 2014
Litfass Saeulen become commonplace
Litfass grew rich fast. After his death in Wiesbaden in 1874, the idea of putting up Litfass Saeulen quickly spread to other German cities. Today, the columns can be found in other countries as well. In France, they are named Morris after Gabriel Morris. Morris columns were originally built by La Société Fermière des Colonnes Morris but are built and maintained today by the JCDecaux company. Although Litfass Saeulen are generally used to display advertisements in the form of posters pasted to the column, such as theater, cinema, nightclub, and concert announcements, some are motorized and rotate very slowly. Others serve as vents for underground services; still others are equipped with a hidden door so that the interior can used for storage purposes.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
Tags: Ernst Litfass, Gabriel Morris, JCDecaux, Karl Ludwig von Hinkeldey, La Société Fermière Colonnes Morris, Litfass Saeule
