Black Helo Leuchten Desk Lamp –Vintageinfo

Black Helo Leuchten desk lamp round brass base rings mushroom lampshade curved rod 1950s 1960s Germany

Lamps in the movies

A green Helo Leuchten desk lamp appears in the German film Ballon from 2018. A movie about two families from the GDR who flew to West Germany with a homemade hot-air balloon in 1979. It was used in an East German house what is very unlikely at that time. Helo was a West German lighting company and the East was communist and had his own lighting firms, cars, motorcycles and so on. Everything that was sold came from behind the Iron Curtain.

A Helo Leuchten desk lamp was used as a prop in the 1958 Belgian film Het Geluk Komt Morgen (Happiness Comes Tomorrow). A story about a professor who accidentally discovers a remedy that takes away all tiredness and gives new life force. Starring Charles Janssens, Anni Anderson and Dora van der Groen.

A Helo Leuchten desk lamp was used as a prop in the 2018 Swedish TV thriller series Dirigenten (Moscow Noir), aired on Netflix. Starring Adam Pålsson, Karolina Gruszka and Linda Zilliacus.

A green Helo Leuchten desk lamp was used as a prop in the 2015 – 2018 French parody spy TV series Au Service De La France (A Very Secret Service). Starring Hugo Becker, Wilfred Benaïche and Christophe Kourotchkine. Many lamps were used, mostly French lamps. Here in episode 11, season 1.

Black Helo Leuchten Desk Lamp

Materials: Round black painted brass ringed base with a built-in switch. Iron counterweight inside the base. Similar brass mushroom lampshade. Curved brass rod. Some metal parts. White Bakelite E27 socket.

Height: 38 cm / 14.96”

Lampshade: ∅ 31 cm / 12.20”

Base: ∅ 18 cm / 7.08”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 100 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: Helo Leuchten, Am Schwalbanger 48, 86633 Neuburg an der Donau, Germany.

Other versions: This Black Helo Leuchten desk lamp exists in several colours. Made in green, blue, brown, maroon, red and so on. Several comparable lamps were produced.

This desk lamp was a big succes for the company. It was made for a long time. Early versions from the 50s have a brass socket. This one is from the 60s.

Helo Leuchten

Helo was founded in the 1930s by Henry Gerhard Senior as Elektrogeschäfts Helo in the city of Breslau, at that time a German city. Today it is a Polish city named Wroclaw.

He fled to Neuburg with his family in 1945 with only a flashlight and some pictures. The three shops were destroyed in a night of bombing. The Helo Leuchten company was registered after World War 2 in 1946 in Neuburg (Neuburg an der Donau). Helo is derived from Henry and his son Lothar.

From old war material such as brass and aluminium from the airfield, he begins with the production of work lamps, today we say industrial lighting.

The company grows fast and moves twice in a couple of years to the address of today.

The company Gebr. Kaiser & Co. Leuchten KG, Lichttechnische Spezialfabrik from Neheim-Hüsten acquires the rights to use the Helo brand and individual models, such as the “commissaire” lamp, the 6631 Luxus. Today (2020) produced by Fritz Hansen.

Lothar Gerhard, who took over the company after Henry Gerhard‘s death in 1964, sees himself forced to gradually abandon the factory and transform the company into the trading company it is today. Helo is now owned by Henry Gerhard Junior, his son and since 1980 it is a member of the Expert group.

Lamps in the movies

A green Helo Leuchten desk lamp was used as a prop in the biographical comedy-drama film Stan & Ollie (2018). Starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

A green Helo Leuchten desk lamp (hard to see in this picture) appears in the 2018 American television drama film My Dinner with Hervé. Starring Peter Dinklage, Jamie Dornan and Andy García.