Imposing Mercedes Typewriter in working order. Germany, 1910

This gorgeous antique typewriter is a Mercedes Modell 4, a real classic among turn-of-the-century typewriters. It is in very good condition and works perfectly, having been fully cleaned and fine-tuned. The machine has black-lacquered cast-iron body with side and rear openings through which we can see the delicate mechanism. It preserves the original legs and all the chromed-metal mobile component parts. At the top of the typewriter, over the carriage we can see the market name Mercedes printed in a discreet golden lettering. The Mercedes Büromaschinen GmbH was founded in Berlin in 1906 by Gustav Mez, whose family owned a sewing threads manufacturing company. The family business was inherited by Gustav Mez in 1894, but being typewriters his main interest he soon sold it to his brother-in-law. Mez founded his company to produce a typewriter designed in 1904 by Franz Schüler and Alfred Mayer, patented by Schüler in 1907 in the USA. The production of the Mercedes Modell 1 started in Berlin, but soon the factory was moved to the city of Zella. In 1927 the powerful Underwood acquired the majority of Mercedes; the firm survived as a calculator manufacturer. The typewriter that we can see in these images shows two golden medals printed on the black enamel over the keyboard. Both contain the inscription MERCEDES BÜRO-MASCHINEN WERKE ZELLA-MEHLIS II printed in black lettering. Under the medals, the keyboard is composed of black keys with the classic nickel-plated reinforcement ring. It is a QWERTZ keyboard in very good condition. At the back of the typewriter we can also see the inscription MERCEDES MODELL 4 printed in a clear golden lettering, very well preserved. Impressive and very antique, this solid Mercedes typewriter is a very decorative piece that still can be used to type documents.