Senta Portable (1914)

Senta by Frister & Rossmann
 
Year of production:  1914
 
Company:  Frister & Rossmann Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin, Germany
 
Serial No. 18198
 
The Senta portable typewriter was designed by Franz Kraudzun, who was born in Königsberg in Prussia on July 20, 1885.
 
According to Ernst Martin, Kraudzun spent many years trying to find a company to make his typewriters.
 
Eventually, long-established sewing machine manufacturers Frister & Rossmann Aktiengesellschaft, of Berlin (founded 1864), produced Kraudzun's first model Senta, a three-bank portable, from 1913.
 
From 1921 the Senta was also marketed as the Presto by a Dresden company and in Bulgaria as the Balkan.
 
In 1926, the Model 4 Senta, with a four-bank keyboard, reached the market, but its lifespan was short, as Frister & Rossmann AG went into liquidation in 1929.