Memories of Eumig and Wiener Neudorf

Memories of Eumig and Wiener Neudorf

Wanted: Small format films from 1950 to 1980

100 years of Eumig – 1919, the company was founded, and with up to 7,000 employees in the 1970s was the largest company in Austria. In particular, film cameras and film projectors were manufactured by eumig. In 1981, the abrupt end came because the market for narrow film equipment collapsed worldwide. The famous brand, which would have turned 100 this year, is to be commemorated in May with a large film installation titled eumigFlimmern. That is why the municipality of Wiener Neudorf is calling on fellow citizens to make private small format films available for the project. About life in town and country, about family gatherings or excursions and especially about everything to do with Eumig.

Ride to work: Buses take employees to the Wiener Neudorf plant, circa 1974

From 24 to 26 May 2019, 100 Eumig brand projectors will be showing films reminiscent of the manufacturer and life in the region at the Old Town Hall, as part of the “Lower Austria Quarter Festival.” Private Regular 8 or Super 8 films are wanted for the spectacle. Many former amateur filmmakers certainly still have plenty of material from the 1950s to the 1980s in their shelfs. Often, however, there are no projectors available anymore or they are defective. That’s why the makers of eumigFlimmering have an interesting offer to make: Whose films are chosen for installation will receive a copy of the scans on DVD. This allows the old small format films to be played on your home TV or computer and allows you to make as many copies as you like. The originals cannot be used anymore after the three-day continuous projection.

Join the “EumigFlimmern”

Film installation with 80 Eumig projectors at the Historical Museum in Hanover, 2017

If you want to provide your films for eumigFlicker, you can now drop off the reels with the municipality of Wiener Neudorf in the Kulturzimmer (1st floor, room 23), Europaplatz 2, 2351 Wiener Neudorf. The deadline is until the end of February. The eumigFlicker takes place as part of the “Viertelfestival Niederösterreich” Project partners are the community Wiener Neudorf, the association eumigMuseum and the team stadtflimmern from Germany.

Installation artist Jürgen Lossau from Hamburg’s stadtflimmern project with an Eumig Super 8 projector from the 1970s

The community of Wiener Neudorf owes its industrialization to Eumig since 1956. The skyscraper next to the A2 was built by Eumig and was the former company headquarters. Many employees settled in Wiener Neudorf at the time. “With the installation eumigFlicker, we want to evoke memories,” says Herbert Janschka, Mayor of Wiener Neudorf.

Social milestones

Uschi Seemann from the eumigMuseum is already looking forward to the many films: “In addition to the reopening of our museum, on March 31, 2019, the installation is another highlight for us. My father, Karl Vockenhuber jr., would also have turned 100 this year. He is the son of Karl Vockenhuber, who founded Eumig with his friend Alois Handler Eumig 100 years ago. ” In addition to the fact that Eumig was once the largest film projector manufacturer in the world, Uschi Seemann is particularly proud of the company’s social achievements: “Eumig introduced the 40 hour week as early as 1956 and took over all employees in 1974.”

Eumig Super-8 projector in use for a city flickering installation in Berlin

Jürgen Lossau from the city’s flicker has already carried out multiple installations with Super 8 projectors in numerous cities. It all began in Hamburg in 2006, later it was Berlin, Wolfenbüttel, Hanover, Nuremberg and Borken. “We generally only use Eumig devices for our installations because they have proven to be particularly durable and reliable,” Lossau explains. “The highlight of eumigFlimmering is to be a large hall in which we want to resurrect the Eumig factory with films from the earlier production.”

Eumig headquarters in Wiener Neudorf, circa 1975

Eumig Double 8 camera production in Wiener Neudorf, early 1960s

Packaging of the Eumig 8 mm projector P8 in Wiener Neudorf, early 1960s

Information

Film drop-off:
Municipality of Wiener Neudorf, Culture Room, 1st floor, room 23, Europaplatz 2, 2351 Wiener Neudorf

Internet:
For the eumigFlicker project, there is a dedicated Facebook page www.facebook.com/EumigFlimmern

Questions:
stadtflinnerb, Jürgen Lossau, Phone: + 49-176-21525055, Email: info@stadt-flimmern.de

Project partner eumigFlimmern:
Market municipality Wiener Neudorf, Europaplatz 2, A-2351 Wiener Neudorf
Support association eumigMuseum, Parkstraße 6, A-2351 Wiener Neudorf, https://eumig.at/
stadtflimmern, Sierichstrasse 145, D-22299 Hamburg, www.stadt-flimmern.de

Friedemann Wachsmuth

Schmalfilmer, Dunkelkammerad, Selbermacher, Zerleger, Reparierer und guter Freund des Assistenten Zufalls. Nimmt sich immer viel zu viele Projekte vor.

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