Mimosa

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In 1893 a photo paper factory was founded in Cologne.

After several financial failures this company was bought by the "Rheinische Emulsions-Papierfabrik Heinrich Stolle". A blooming mimosa twig was the company's symbol.

In 1902 it was merged with Dr. Opitz & Co., Munich. becoming a stock market company.

In 1904 it moved to Dresden,there successfully making photo paper and dry plates.

In 1913 the company was renamed to "Mimosa AG".

Before and after WWI it bought several other companies.

From 1905 to 1930 its production of photo paper rose from 25,000 square metres to 7,310,000 square metres. Other film products were also made by the company.

In the era of the Nazi „3rd Reich“ the company's Jewish employees, including most of the directors, were forced to leave, the owners of the company then appointed Dr. Weidner and Mr. von der Osten new directors.

During WWII more than half of the production was changed to war relevant material, the factory director von Dobschinsky was sent to a concentration camp.

During the Destruction of Dresden the factory in Dresden had not been bombed severely, nevertheless in fear fron the incoming russian soldiers Dr. Weidner and Mr. von der Osten already had moved assets of the company to the western part of Germany trying to move the company's base to Hamburg.

The russian occupying forces fired both managers (which since May were not in Dresden anymore) in late 1945, and the Soviet government of East Germany allowed to restart photo paper production with a returned Mr. von Dobschinsky first in the lead and, as the company became state owned with von Dobschinsky as custodian. In 1949 the company became "VEB Mimosa Dresden".

In 1947 the company was driven to make cameras. This became a successful project, lead by Robert Graichen. The "Mimosa" (1948) and later the "Mimosa II" (1949) were very compact full-featured 35mm viewfinder cameras.

From 1954 to 1990 the company continued solely with the production of photo paper, the other product lines being taken over by Zeiss Ikon. German reunification brought the end for the company.

In West Germany a new photo paper and film factory "Mimosa AG" was launched in 1948. It moved from Hamburg to Hannover and from there to Kiel. Several lawsuits were fought with the East German "VEB Mimosa". The actual state of that company is unknown.

Dr. Weidner and Mr. von der Osten meanwhile founded a new company "CAWO Photochemisches Werk GmbH" in 1947 with employees from the former Mimosa producing first photo papers and film then switching over to the field of medical x-ray. CAWO nowadays has a name with world-wide acquaintance in radiography.

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