Internationale Camera Actiengesellschaft (ICA)

Home » Stereoscopes & Cameras 1850-1930 » Internationale Camera Actiengesellschaft (ICA)

The Internationale Camera Actiengesellschaft (ICA) from Dresden was founded in 1909 by merging four existing camera manufacturers: Hüttig AG, Kamerawerk Dr. Krügener, Wünsche AG and Carl Zeiss Palmos AG. An attempt to involve Ernemann in the merger failed and this company would become a major competitor for ICA.

ICA advertisement from 1925
Advertisement from 1925

ICA’s trademark was a pentagram, which was adopted in a slightly modified way from Hüttig AG. The company offered a wide range of cameras and accessories. Before the First World War it had the largest camera factory in Europe. In 1926, ICA formed with Ernemann, Goerz and Contessa-Nettel the new Zeiss Ikon company.

ICA adopted the new stereo glass formats 45x107mm and 6x13cm that were introduced by Jules Richard in France. The success of glass stereophotography was more modest in Germany than in France, but ICA released a series of stereo cameras and stereoscopes that were later continued by Zeiss Ikon.

ICA postcards

The promotional postcards are a series of beautiful coloured cards of people with their camera. There were German and English versions of the cards. Some of the images were also used by ICA on the covers of their catalogs. The postcards were designed by the Austrian illustrator Theo Matejko (1893-1946). He was a well-known artist and involved in the design work for the posters of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The cards contain his signature and the year 1925[2].

ICA postcard
ICA postcard
ICA postcard

References

  1. Gubas, Lawrence J. Zeiss and Photography, 2015
  2. Theo Matejko – via: en.wikipedia.org

See also: blogposts about ICA

Images © André Ruiter 2018 - 2022, unless otherwise stated.
Content may not be used without permission.