1950s Tripod Bedside Table Lamp

Materials: Thin tripod brass rods base, 3 white plastic caps. Some early white coloured plastic used for the oval lampshade. Red Bakelite lampshade holder. Brass socket with a porcelain ring.

Height: 29 cm / 11.41”

Width: 8,5 cm / 3.34′‘

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1950s, 1960s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: VEB Leuchtenbau, Lengefeld, Germany.

Other versions: This 1950s tripod bedside table lamp exists in some variations.

The electric parts were replaced, probably in the 70s. The wiring and the plug is from that period. Al the other parts are 1950s. The socket has no label whatsoever and the switch is made in East Germany by VEB Leuchtenbau.

VEB Leuchtenbau

These lights were made in Germany by VEB Leuchtenbau from Lengefeld. On the socket is a label with written on it: je fassg. 60 W = je fassung 60 Watt, German for: Each socket 60 Watt. Together with the logo of the company.

The VEB Leuchtenbau company was founded in 1900 as Wittig und Schwabe Metalldruckwarenfabriken (Metal Printing Factories), Lengefeld. Right after World War II in 1946, the name changed into VEB Leuchtenbau. In 1963 they manufactured some 1.5 million lamps, of which 80% were exported. In 1965 they produced 120 different models of lamps.

One of the most famous lamps produced by VEB Leuchtenbau is the Kontrast floor lamp, designed by Lutz Rudolf in 1961, when he was 25. The manufacturer himself doubted the success of “this thing” and planned only a small number of pieces.

However, the production was carried through until 1975, in which 11,000 pieces were produced. The GDR citizens at that time were fortunate that the product landed mainly on the domestic East German market, which was not the case with all the design objects. Despite colourfully designed variants, the majority of customers opted for the original, simple-white design of the lampshades of this floor lamp.

Designers that worked for the VEB Leuchtenbau companies were, among others: Lutz Rudolf, Peter Beyer, Udo Domröse, Klaus Neubert, Andreas Kuhnhardt, Theo Schröder, Hans-Jürgen Weiß, Christian Wagner…

VEB: Volks Eigener Betrieb – Publicly-owned business.  VEB was the main legal form of industrial enterprise in the communist East Germany.