Date of use : circa 1908-1918, Germany
Georg Leisegang and Victor Avril: Photography and Postal History
This document is a commercial letterhead postal cover sent from the Berlin-based firm Georg Leisegang to Victor Avril in the Alsace region, dating from a period after 1908. The cover constitutes a primary source for both postal history and the history of photography, documenting the direct relationship between the photographic equipment trade and the optical glass industry in the early twentieth century.
The Georg Leisegang company was founded in Berlin in 1889 by Georg Leisegang (Senior). Initially operating as a small commercial enterprise, the firm rapidly developed into a significant retailer of photographic cameras, lenses, optical instruments, and photographic accessories. It became particularly well known for its mail-order sales system (Versandhaus) and for publishing illustrated catalogs, which enabled it to reach a wide customer base. Serving both amateur and professional photographers, the company played a notable role in the photographic market of its time. During the Second World War, its activities were largely disrupted. In the postwar period, however, the company was restructured by family members and gradually shifted away from photographic retail toward the production of medical and industrial optical equipment. Today, the company continues to operate in the field of medical imaging technologies.
The recipient of the cover, Victor Léon Avril, was an optical industry entrepreneur born in the mid-nineteenth century and active during the first half of the twentieth century. In 1884, he established an optical glass manufacturing workshop in Zabern (Saverne), Alsace. Avril's firm produced spectacle lenses, watch glasses, and, notably, specialized glass used in photographic cameras and optical instruments. Through this activity, the company occupied an important position in the production of optical glass, a fundamental component of photographic technology. After Alsace returned to France in 1918, the firm continued its operations for a period but eventually disappeared as an independent industrial enterprise in the later decades of the twentieth century.
Record Information
Title: Georg Leisegang and Victor Avril: Photography and Postal History
Category: Photographic Industry History / Optical Glass Trade
Subcategory: Commercial Correspondence / Mail-Order Photography
Country: Germany (Sender: Berlin) → Germany / Alsace (Recipient: Zabern/Saverne)
🗺️ Show Route
City: Berlin (Sender) → Zabern / Saverne, Alsace (Recipient)
Date of use: circa 1908-1918
Company (Sender): Georg Leisegang, Berlin. Founded 1889 by Georg Leisegang (Senior). Prominent photographic retailer known for mail-order sales (Versandhaus) and illustrated catalogs. Post-WWII restructured into medical and industrial optics, now active in medical imaging technologies.
Company (Recipient): Victor Léon Avril, Zabern (Saverne), Alsace. Founded 1884, optical glass manufacturer producing spectacle lenses, watch glasses, and specialized glass for photographic cameras and optical instruments.
Object Type: Commercial letterhead postal cover
Postal Route 🚂: Berlin → Zabern/Saverne, Alsace (circa 1908-1918)
Estimated Travel Time: Approximately 2-3 days (by rail via Leipzig, Frankfurt, Strasbourg)
Postal Features: German Empire postage stamps; Berlin postal cancellation; commercial letterhead with company branding.
Language: German
Material: Paper envelope
Dimensions: Standard envelope format
Collection Theme: Georg Leisegang, Berlin photographic retail, mail-order photography, Victor Avril, Alsace optical glass, Zabern/Saverne, German-French optical trade, early 20th century commercial correspondence, photographic supply networks.
Archival Significance: This commercial cover documents the direct relationship between a major Berlin photographic retailer (Georg Leisegang) and an Alsatian optical glass manufacturer (Victor Avril), illustrating the supply chain that connected optical glass production with photographic equipment distribution in early 20th-century Germany.
Research Note:
This article is based on historical research and independent analysis of the material in the author's collection. The text has been prepared as an original interpretative study and does not reproduce copyrighted material.
This item is documented as part of the Photography in Postal History research project.
For research context, see the Research Methodology.
For academic reference, please refer to How to Cite This Archive.
For research context, see the Research Methodology.
For academic reference, please refer to How to Cite This Archive.
