According to the statistical yearbook of the German Reich for 1933, in 1932
Königsberg ranked 30th in terms of car density (number of residents per car)
among fifty major German cities.
But the car has to run. And for it to run, it needs to be filled with gas.
That's what we'll talk about gas stations.
An interesting point is that in 1928 Germany took the honorable bottom line,
having one gas station per two thousand people. Ahead were England, Denmark,
France, Switzerland and Holland.
However, this does not mean that there were few gas stations.
An extensive network of highways, a rapidly developing auto industry, and an
active tourist business - all this contributed to the emergence of such a number
of gas stations, which are still absent in the territory of the current
Kaliningrad Region. Today, by the way, we have one gas station for more than
five thousand residents (the population of the region is 1,027,678 people, there
are 186 gas stations - the result is 5,525 people per gas station).
What can we compare the “filling per number of cars” indicator with? In Germany
in the same year 1928 it was 31.
The basis of the gasoline business at first consisted of small single columns
located on the roadsides and city streets, and providing additional income to
hotels, pharmacies, shops, restaurants, and auto repair shops. At first, hand
pumps were installed on the columns, later they began to be equipped with an
electric drive.
Saalfeld
(now Zalewo, Poland). Esso-Standard petrol station. Not yet a full-fledged
petrol station, but no longer a hand pump, as at the beginning of the petrol
era… 1930s.
Investments in the construction of such gas stations were relatively low, and
although installation requirements were strict, the stations quickly became a
functional decoration of urban and roadside landscapes.
In fairness, it should be noted that such a huge number of gas stations in
Germany in the 1930s (and not only there) compared to the current situation was
caused not only by a real need for them, but also by the fact that the cost of
installing a gas station and the associated infrastructure in the form of an
underground tank for gasoline was low, there were no special problems with
obtaining permission to install it, and even the owners of the smallest
businesses could afford to organize an additional source of income. You can
often see that the presence of a gas station was presented in advertising
brochures of hotels or auto repair shops as a kind of additional option for
customers, akin to today's free Internet. Although it was the extensive network
of gas stations that allowed motorists to travel around the country not only on
the main roads, without fear of stalling somewhere in the countryside. Among
other things, gas stations often also sold motor oil and spark plugs.
Sketch
of the architectural design of a petrol station. In 1927, the famous German
architect Hans Poelzig developed a design for petrol stations made of
prefabricated structures. Later, his design was used for the Leuna petrol
station network.
The thirties of the last century were a period of significant growth for the
German economy. Large networks entered the market, owning a huge number of gas
stations throughout the country. Small traders were quickly forced out of the
market by large German and foreign companies. The very same architecture of gas
stations that we are now accustomed to was born, they were equipped with cash
desks, canopies from precipitation, several gas pumps were installed on them at
once, and service stations often became an additional service, just like a
restaurant and a hotel.
The design of petrol station complexes (Grosstankstelle) was carried out by
famous German architects and designers, for example, Hans Poelzig, the author of
the project of the Radio House (1931) in Berlin, Peter Behrens, who designed the
building of the German embassy (1912) on Isaac's Square in St. Petersburg,
Helmut Hentrich, who became famous in Germany in the 1960-70s for his projects
of high-rise buildings of unusual shapes, Werner March, the author of the
Olympic Stadium in Berlin and other architects.
The first "full-fledged" Grosstankstelle, "of the American type", was opened
back in 1927 in Hamburg on Hudtwalkerstrasse. In the future, the "gentleman's
set" of such gas stations, in addition to the building and the roof-awning, was
required to consist of at least two gas pumps, one pump for dispensing motor oil
and a gas station attendant who conjured over the engines and gas tanks of
respectable citizens' cars and was able, if necessary, to provide emergency
repair assistance. The presence of an "uncle" (by the way, it was impossible to
just get a job as a gas station attendant off the street - you could only put on
a uniform after undergoing special training) was determined, not least of all,
by the fire hazard of the fuel filling process itself.
Later, the design and area of the buildings, the size of the roof-awning, the
number of columns and gas stations changed, but fundamentally, gas stations
remain the same as they were 100 years ago.
A
petrol station on the Reichsautobahn near Frankfurt am Main. The petrol station
area was shaped like a triangle. The roof was shaped like two wings. There were
three pumps under each “wing”. It was built in 1937 according to the design of
the architect Carl August Bembé.
Some of the petrol stations built in the 1930s that have survived to this day in
Germany are architectural monuments. They were built, for the most part, along
the autobahns, the active construction of which began just in the early 1930s.
A
petrol station built on the side of the motorway in 1937 by the architect
Friedrich Tamms in the so-called "house style" (Heimatschutzstil). This style
became particularly popular during the Nazi period and was characterized by
historicism in architecture and the use of "traditional" materials native to the
area.
In rural areas, on secondary roads, petrol stations were built, for the most
part, using standard designs and prefabricated elements. They looked rather
simple and were a small building that housed a cash desk, a toilet and a small
retail space. This building was supported by a rectangular canopy roof,
two-thirds of which were supported by brick or metal columns, between which
there were petrol pumps and a driveway for cars. Or it was just a canopy
supported by pillars or columns, and the building where the petrol station staff
and retail space were located was located at some distance.
The
fork in the road to Taplaken (now Talpaki) was marked by a modern Standard gas
station. (At that time, they also baited the place for the well-known
cheburechnaya...). 1930s.
Zameluken
(Brückental), Kreis Gumbinnen. This settlement, located on Reichstrasse 132,
which once connected Tilsit (Sovetsk) with Łyk (now Elk, Poland), no longer
exists. And in pre-war times, as we can see, the roadside gas station in this
village enjoyed considerable success among car owners. 1930s.
In the mid-1930s, there were already almost 56,000 gas stations in Germany! Of
these, only 2,788 were independent. The lion's share of the market belonged to
the so-called "big five". They included: DAPG - 18,327 gas stations (a third of
the market!), Shell - 16,363, BV - ARAL - 7,740, Olex - 6,098 and Leuna - 3,315
gas stations.
Logos
of the Big Five.
It was the motor fuel producers who dictated the rules of the market. Those who
wanted to sell fuel of a certain brand entered into long-term contracts with the
manufacturer and only in this case could sell its products. Independent gas
stations with their market share of about 5% did not play a significant role.
When buying fuel from a large manufacturer, they did not have the right to sell
it under its brand, and sold fuel and oil "no name".
It is no wonder that the most frequent pictures on postcards and photographs
from those years were of gas stations belonging to the leader of the gasoline
industry, the German-American company DAPG (Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum
Gesellschaft). Dapolin, Standard, Esso were the trademarks of this company in
different years.
Gross-Friedrichsdorf
(now Gastellovo). DAPG
filling station with its later ESSO logo. 1930s.
Before us is a receipt written out in Hamburg in 1929.
Bill
from the DAPG gas station for 40 liters of gasoline. A liter of gasoline cost
just under 33 pfennigs.
According to this Hamburg invoice, 40 liters of Dapolin gasoline cost the buyer
13 Reichsmarks.
Is it expensive? During the economic depression, the average salary of an
industrial worker was 2,000 Reichsmarks per year. However, it was not so easy
for ordinary people to buy a car. There were difficult to follow rules,
according to which, along with a cash contribution, it was necessary to save
marks (similar ones are now offered in supermarkets, providing a discount on a
certain product if you collect stickers). Failure to fulfill the obligations
deprived the right to purchase without any compensation.
Only wealthy people could afford a car. For them, the cost of gasoline, perhaps,
did not seem fabulous, even with fuel consumption of 15-20 liters. And the elite
Mercedes-Benz 770, by the way, ate 28-30 liters per 100 km!
An
advertising poster beckons to a Shell filling station: "Stop! Gasoline for 26
pfennigs!" 1930.
Advertising, as we know, is the engine of progress. You can attract a potential
client to your gas station only by standing out from the competition. Therefore,
gas station owners used not only recruiting posters for this purpose.
Even the ordinary payment receipt forms were pleasing to the eye.
Check
out the Dapolin-Esso letterhead. 10 litres of petrol cost 2.9 marks. March
7, 1931.
Shell's advertising department produced hundreds of road maps and plans of major
German cities, thematic tourist maps and many other cartographic products in the
pre-war period (for
lovers of watercraft, by the way, their own maps were produced!). Particularly
noteworthy are the Shell road maps of 1936/37, 1938 and 1939, which were
available free of charge (what wouldn't you do to attract customers!) at Shell
filling stations. Thanks to Shell city maps, one could roughly orient oneself in
every major city in Germany and explore it from a tourist point of view.
Free
map of East Prussia and Memelland, published by Shell in 1939.
Shell filling stations were scattered all over Germany, from the Rhine to Memel.
In Königsberg alone, according to the city plan published by Shell in 1935,
there were 37 of them!
Fragment
of the Königsberg plan (Shell Stadtkarte Nr.22 — Königsberg 1934/1935). There
were 37 Shell gas stations in the city. Of these, 3 were full-fledged gas
stations. Of note are as many as 4 Shell gas stations located side by side on
the island of Lomse (now Oktyabrsky).
Another major network of petrol stations (although significantly inferior to the
market leaders in terms of the number of its own outlets) in the pre-war period
was Leuna (pronounced "Leyna"). Still in operation, one of Germany's largest
chemical plants from the city of the same name in Saxony, among other things,
since 1927 produced artificial liquid fuel. For this, the method of
hydrogenation of brown coal was used. In 1935, there were 94 Leuna petrol
stations in East Prussia.
List
of East Prussian Leuna filling stations, published in the road atlas (Deutsche
Gasolin AG: Leuna Zapfstellen-Atlas) in 1935.
The largest number of gas stations was, obviously, in Königsberg: 7 of them. In
Elbing (now Elbląg) there were 2 gas stations and a third was under
construction. Most gas stations already had telephones installed. By the number
of digits in the telephone numbers (the presence of a telephone at specific gas
stations is indicated by the letter F, from the German word Fernsprecher -
telephone), you can guess which settlement is larger (4 digits), and which is
smaller (3 or even 2 digits).
For
the tenth anniversary of the start of production of artificial gasoline, Leuna
published a leaflet stating that “ Hundreds
of millions of liters of LEUNA fuel are used in Germany every year because LEUNA
filling stations enjoy the trust of German motorists.” 1937
Tapiau
(now Gvardeysk). The Leuna gas station is visible on the left edge of the photo.
It was owned by the firm "Zalewski and Co." The main profile of this company was
the sale of agricultural equipment, household appliances, including radios, as
well as bicycles and motorcycles.
Tapiau.
Another Leuna gas station was located on Neustrasse (now Gagarin Street). And it
looks like there is a bus station in its place now. Not everything is clear with
this gas station, because it does not appear on the list of official gas
stations published by Leuna on its road maps. It is possible that it opened
already in the late 1930s - early 1940s. The gas station building is built in
the Heimatschutz style.
The blue rhombus with the white letters ARAL inscribed in it is familiar to many
car enthusiasts not only in modern Germany. Motor oil under this brand has been
sold in our country for many years. As one might think, the name of this brand
has nothing to do with the Aral Sea. The history of ARAL, like the history of
Leuna, began with the chemical production and sale of various by-products formed
during the production of coke. In other words, synthetic motor fuel again. In
1924, even earlier than Leuna, chemists at Benzol-Verband (BV - "Benzene
Association") invented a new type of gasoline consisting of a mixture of benzene
(belonging to the
AR- omatic
organic compounds) and gasoline (belonging to the
AL- iphatic
compounds). The new type of fuel was named ARAL. In 1939, BV launched the
world's first synthetic all-season motor oil ARAL Kowal.
In terms of its size, the BV-ARAL petrol station network was one of the leading
petrol stations not only in Germany but also in Europe as a whole before the
Second World War. And although ARAL subsequently lost its position, today it is
still the largest petrol station network in Germany.
The company BV - ARAL also published road maps since the mid-1930s.
A
fragment of a 1:500,000 scale road map of East Prussia published by BV-ARAL
in 1935. Red and blue flags on the BV-ARAL map indicate to the driver the
filling points for diesel fuel and BeVaulin, the fuel BV sold under this name.
There
were two BV petrol stations in Tilsit (now Sovetsk). One of them, on
Königsbergerstrasse (now Kaliningradskoe Shosse), was located approximately
where the Kristall petrol station is now. The second was located on
Deutschesstrasse (Gagarin Street), approximately opposite the Spar supermarket.
In general, as you can see, city plans placed on a road map, despite their
apparent schematic nature, could well help the average motorist find his way
around an unfamiliar city in the era of the absence of navigators.
Well, a few words about another network of gas stations - Olex. It was this,
originally Austrian, company that opened the very first gas station in Germany
in 1922, in the city of Hanover, on Raschplatz. Moreover, the very name of the
gas station in German - Tankstelle - also appeared thanks to Olex.
It is, of course, difficult to call that first construction a
gas station in the current sense of the word. It was a small
structure in the form of a kiosk, slightly more than 3 m high,
inside which was a fuel pump, hidden from the eyes of the fuel
buyer. Under the kiosk itself, below ground level, were a fuel
tank, a compressor for supplying gasoline using carbon dioxide
from Martini & Hüneke, and a 20-liter measuring container.
Olex
petrol station kiosk in Hanover, 1923.
Gasoline did not need to be pumped with a mechanical pump.
Carbon dioxide, unlike air, did not form an explosive mixture
with gasoline. The disadvantage, however, was that with this
supply system, gasoline often flowed like champagne, and the
driver himself usually did the refueling, controlling the supply
of fuel to the tank. The attendant at the gas station was inside
the "kiosk", controlled the pump itself and monitored the amount
of fuel supplied.
In general, the functionality of such gas stations was inferior
to their appearance, and the cost of the "kiosks" was
considerable, so they did not become widespread. It is believed
that the last such gas station was built in early 1926.
Through numerous sales and purchases of shares, in the late 1920s Olex came
under the control of the well-known company BP (British Petroleum) and
subsequently the BP logo began to be present on all Olex filling stations.
In East Prussia, Olex gas stations are rare guests in photographs and postcards.
Therefore, we will share what we managed to find on the Internet.
Kranz
(now Zelenogradsk). You can't immediately see the Olex gas station in this
photo. But it's there! Between the horse harnessed to the carriage and the
cyclist riding along Königsbergerstrasse (now Kurortny Prospekt). There is no BP
sign on the gas station yet. Therefore, we can assume that this photo was taken
no later than the late 1920s. The owner of this gas station was a certain Oskar
Anschütz, the owner of a car repair shop located in house No. 21. (We thank
Tatyana Nechaeva, a journalist from the Zelenograd newspaper Volna, for the
photo provided and for the keen eye).
Heiligenbeil
(now Mamonovo). A rare plot - three competing brands under one roof: BV-Aral,
BP-Olex and Shell. 1930s.
1936.
The price of BP-Olexin gasoline is 42 pfennigs, BP-Benzin - 38 pfennigs per
liter.
Like other business rivals, Olex published its own road maps and atlases, which
indicated the locations of its gas stations.
In
Königsberg in 1939 there were 16 Olex filling stations. Fragment of the German
road atlas.
There
are 4 gas stations in Insterburg.
In
Tilsit there are 2. One is directly opposite the Queen Louise Bridge, not far
from the entrance to the border crossing.
And finally, a few more illustrations on the topic:
Trempen
(now Novostroevo). Standard petrol station on Market Square. Postcard. 1930s.
Bischofsburg
(now Biskupiec, Poland). Gas station right in the middle of Müllendamm square.
Postcard. 1930s.
The
first petrol station in Germany was the Dapolin pump of the DAPGI system (1923).
It was initially manufactured by Gilbert & Barker in the USA and then under
license in the German city of Salzkotten. It was these pumps, installed on
sidewalks and roadsides, that eventually replaced the petrol stations-kiosks
developed by Olex.
Gerdauen
(now Zheleznodorozhny). Leuna fuel truck is located on the Market Square (now
the corner of Chernyakhovsky and Pervomayskaya streets). The Leuna filling
station was located at Markt 44, next to the Königlicher Hof Hotel. Postcard,
1930s.
Gerdauen.
Market square. View of the Reich Hotel. Next to the hotel another gas station is
visible slightly to the left of the bus. Postcard, after 1935.
Shell
tourist map for motorists. A circular route around the western part of East
Prussia is proposed: Königsberg — Balga — Braunsberg (Braniewo) — Frauenburg
(Frombork) — Elbing — Marienburg (Malbork) — Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) — Deutsch
Eylau (Ilawa) — Osterode (Ostróda) — Hohenstein (Olsztynek) — Allenstein
(Olsztyn) — Guttstadt (Dobre Miasto) — Wormditt (Orneta) — Heilsberg (Lidzbark
Warmiński) — Preußisch Eylau (Bagrationovsk) — Königsberg. 1930s.
Brandenburg
(now Ushakovo). Standard gas station near Lehmann's restaurant and guesthouse.
1930s.
Brandenburg.
Lehmann's filling station gets the Standard sign. 1930s.
A
modest postcard, published before 1931. A road map with Dapolin filling stations
in East Prussia. A hidden calculator — mileage on the map — will help you
calculate your fuel reserves. Share with a friend the information about the
availability of gasoline and motor oil along the route! A postage stamp, an
address — and the advertisement is all over the place!
Angerburg
(now Węgorzewo, Poland). BV-Aral petrol station at the former Bahnhofstrasse 7.
To the left of the petrol station is the entrance to a car repair shop. The
petrol station also had a car wash. Postcard. Circa 1935.
Karkeln
(now Mysovka). These days, to fill up their car, Mysovka residents have to drive
to the nearest gas station in the district center — no more, no less than 40 km.
But in the 1930s, despite the fact that a car was a luxury, there was an
Esso-Standard gas station right on the square near the pier. You won't find it
right away in this fragment of a postcard. It's understandable — it was a market
day, and fishermen (on horses, of course) had come to the fair to sell their
catch. Well, where else would you tie a horse if not to a gas station?..
Heiligenbeil.
The hotel owner Koch (or rather his heirs) made money not only from his guests,
but also from selling motor fuel. According to data from 1935, the Leuna gas
station was located at Markt 38 and was owned by a certain Müller. By this
time, he was also the owner of the hotel. Most likely, this photo was taken in
the late 1920s - early 1930s.
Allenburg
(now Druzhba). Market square, 1930s. The photo is interesting because you can
see two pumps at once. The one further away is the Olex brand. But the one next
to which two young men in shorts are standing is called Motanol. This is the
name of the motor oil that was sold in bulk (as well as motor fuel) at petrol
stations selling fuel under the Gasolin brand. Probably, at this petrol station
you could simultaneously pour fuel into the tank and oil into the car engine.
Allenburg.
Hotel "Koenig von Preussen". In front of the entrance there are two Shell pumps:
the left one is for fuel, the right one is for oil. 1930s.
Allenburg.
View of the Hotel König von Preussen from another angle: the hotel is on the
left side of the picture. In front of it is the same Shell gas station. What is
interesting is that under the open window from which the local is leaning out
there is a white arrow with the word Shell written on it. 1930s.
Presence
of Eylau. Esso-Standard petrol station. 1930s
Standard
petrol station at the Zum Hirschen (At the Deer) hotel in the Romincka Forest.
1930s.
Fischhausen
(now Primorsk). Advertisement for the delicatessen and colonial goods store
Wolff and Rude. In addition to their own roasted coffee, wine and beer bar, they
also offer a Dapolin petrol station.
And
again Fischhausen. Here is a complete hodgepodge of the Samlandischer Hof hotel,
with a delicatessen, hardware store and petrol station attached. Late 1920s –
early 1930s.
Sources:
Vahrenkamp R. The
automotive industry. Construction of buildings, tanks, railcars, garages and
cars in Germany from 1920 to 1939 .
— Working Paper in the History of Mobility No. 22/2017
Vahrenkamp R. The
Automobile Handle 1920 – 1933 in Germany as part of the “Automobile Systems” and
as an assistant to the scientific research and production society. —
Working Paper in the History of Mobility No. 14/2009 (Stand: 5. May 2020)
Kleinmanns J. Everything
is great! 75th Floor Tank Tower .
— Catalog of the collection of the Lippische Landesmuseums Detmold, 2002
