Kalliope

German shellac label One of the oldest German record labels, active from 1907-1933, in Austria until 1938. Originally a producer of music boxes, Kalliope Fabrik Mechanischer Musikwerke in Leipzig-Gohlis, Saxony, was founded in 1895 by Gustav Espenhain, Emil Wacker, and Christian Bock. In 1907, the company, now called Kalliope Musikwerke A.G. and led by Christian Bock and Hugo Zetzsche, began producing records. Three years later, the company moved its headquarters to Dippoldiswalde in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge). Soon, Kalliope also tried to get a foothold in the British market. Matrices were recorded in London, then pressed in Saxony and re-imported to the United Kingdom. After having released Czech music since 1908, the company also opened a branch in Austria-Hungary in 1911, with a pressing plant in Bodenbach (Podmokly) near Tetschen (Děčín). In addition, Kalliope Musikwerke A.G. acquired the Anker-Phonogramm-Gesellschaft, Berlin, in 1914. The outbreak of World War I, however, forced the company into bankruptcy that same year. It continued to exist in receivership until 1919. Then distribution of both Kalliope and Anker labels was taken over by Menzenhauer & Schmidt in Berlin, a company owned by Henry Langfelder. During the 1920s, Kalliope issued waltzes, operettas, folk songs, and dance music; the performers often remained anonymous. Near the end of the 1920s, a special label, Kalliope American Record, was created for recordings made by the American labels Paramount, Broadway and Banner/Regal. However, in February 1931, Menzenhauer & Schmidt went bankrupt as well. The Kalliope recording studio and many of the matrices passed to Bruno Castner of Isiphon-Concert-Record GmbH, but by 1933, production of Kalliope records in Germany ceased. Only in Austria, the Kalliope label did continue to operate until 1938, using matrices originally released under the Clangor label.