Anne Frank's fountain pen.

[Deirdre]

I'm finding Rood and Luca's analysis very interesting.

 

Obviously, since she didn't say, it's impossible to know what the brand was; we can only guess.

[katia]

I wrote to the Anne Frank museum, operator of the Anne Frank Haus (where she hid out) in Amsterdam to see if they know the answer. Since Anne Frank's father Otto Frank played a major part of publishing her diary and establishing the museum, this bit of history might actually be available!

I will post the reply from them once I hear back.

 

katia

[katia]

And...the official answer is in!

 

 

------------------

Dear Katia,

 

We do not know what kind of fountain pen Anne used. In her Diary she

mentions that it was a golden fountain pen, but that is all we know.

 

With kind regards,

Anne Frank House

 

Barbara Ennik

Communications Department

-------------------

[ruud2904]

That is the precise answer one could expect to receive. Thanks for taking the effort, Katia ! I asked the same question even a couple of days earlier, but no reply received yet. Perhaps because I wrote in Dutch language....

 

I have given it another thought and would like to share it with you all. Now Anne mentions in her diary the loss of her pen the details that the golden nib according to her father perhaps was turned into stone as not a trace was found. The golden clip was retrieved the other day from the stove. My assumption is that the pen likely did not have golden caprings. If it would have had impressive cap rings, Anne just might have mentioned it. No or small pen rings would more or less be correct for the time period. War time production German pens are often without gold caprings and just have the grooves instead. I know it is a long shot, but I would put my money on a black celluloid pen, German brand, golden clip, broad golden nib and no significant cap bands, or just grooves. The red pen case that came with the pen had no zipper and could only take the pen, it was a single pen case. She explicitly mentions the zipper in relation to the two slot, second pen case.

Anne's grandmother, Rosa Stern Hollander, was not extremely rich, but not without money either. I therfore assume it was not a low end, school type of pen that she bought for Anne. So a 1938 middle class German brand FP is what I would call a best guess.

 

Now what of we start a little investigation about which German pen brand in 1938 had a mid class (black) celluloid pen on the market, fitted with a golden clip, a broad golden nib, no or small cap rings as well as a singe slot red pen case without a zipper..... assuming the case was the same brand as the pen.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions ??

Ruud

Edited March 3, 2008 by ruud2904

[Shangas]

Very interesting, Ruud, I'll be curious to know what key fits the lock!

[rroossinck]

Perhaps a Soennecken of some sort? Maybe a 116? Those had pretty small trim rings, if memory serves, and they DID have good-sized nibs.

[gregoron]

How about Kaweco pens? They were founded in Heidelberg in the 1890's.

 

 

That is the precise answer one could expect to receive. Thanks for taking the effort, Katia ! I asked the same question even a couple of days earlier, but no reply received yet. Perhaps because I wrote in Dutch language....

 

I have given it another thought and would like to share it with you all. Now Anne mentions in her diary the loss of her pen the details that the golden nib according to her father perhaps was turned into stone as not a trace was found. The golden clip was retrieved the other day from the stove. My assumption is that the pen likely did not have golden caprings. If it would have had impressive cap rings, Anne just might have mentioned it. No or small pen rings would more or less be correct for the time period. War time production German pens are often without gold caprings and just have the grooves instead. I know it is a long shot, but I would put my money on a black celluloid pen, German brand, golden clip, broad golden nib and no significant cap bands, or just grooves. The red pen case that came with the pen had no zipper and could only take the pen, it was a single pen case. She explicitly mentions the zipper in relation to the two slot, second pen case.

Anne's grandmother, Rosa Stern Hollander, was not extremely rich, but not without money either. I therfore assume it was not a low end, school type of pen that she bought for Anne. So a 1938 middle class German brand FP is what I would call a best guess.

 

Now what of we start a little investigation about which German pen brand in 1938 had a mid class (black) celluloid pen on the market, fitted with a golden clip, a broad golden nib, no or small cap rings as well as a singe slot red pen case without a zipper..... assuming the case was the same brand as the pen.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions ??

Ruud

 

[Mescof1]

I recently purchased a book titled "Inside Anne Frank's House - An Illustrated Journey through Anne's' World." The introduction is by Hans Westra, Executive Director, the Anne Frank House. It's a very large book and contains 279 black and white and 159 colour photographs. Many of the pictures are close ups of her writings. It appears to me she must have had two pens - a medium and a fine.

[ruud2904]

I recently purchased a book titled "Inside Anne Frank's House - An Illustrated Journey through Anne's' World." The introduction is by Hans Westra, Executive Director, the Anne Frank House. It's a very large book and contains 279 black and white and 159 colour photographs. Many of the pictures are close ups of her writings. It appears to me she must have had two pens - a medium and a fine.

 

Seems correct to me. She also used pencil and different inks (blue-grey and thin red I believe). The pen we are trying to indetify is the fountain pen that she got from her grandmother in Aachen, Germany in 1938 and was burned in the stove by accident. About this pen she wrote the "Ode aan mijn vulpen" on November 11, 1943.

 

Back to the indenification. Large brands in these days were Montblanc, Pelikan, Osmia, Kaweco. The pen came to her in a single slot red leather pencase. That case did not have a zipper. Let's try to zoom in on the pencase. If the brand of the pen case was the same brand as the pen itself, we are looking for a pen-pencase combination that was available in 1938 and rather common. Who has any knowledge about 1938 German red leather single slot pencases without a zipper that was sold under the name of a pen manufacturer? Anyone ?

 

My small search on the web did not show any Osmia pencases. Peilkan, Montblanc and Kaweco did..

 

Ruud

[menkent]

the case may not have come with the pen - one must assume that pen cases were a fairly common commodity, as they still are today. it's pretty basic leather work to make a little pen case with a snap closure.

[Mescof1]

I recently purchased a book titled "Inside Anne Frank's House - An Illustrated Journey through Anne's' World." The introduction is by Hans Westra, Executive Director, the Anne Frank House. It's a very large book and contains 279 black and white and 159 colour photographs. Many of the pictures are close ups of her writings. It appears to me she must have had two pens - a medium and a fine.

 

Seems correct to me. She also used pencil and different inks (blue-grey and thin red I believe). The pen we are trying to indetify is the fountain pen that she got from her grandmother in Aachen, Germany in 1938 and was burned in the stove by accident. About this pen she wrote the "Ode aan mijn vulpen" on November 11, 1943.

 

Back to the indenification. Large brands in these days were Montblanc, Pelikan, Osmia, Kaweco. The pen came to her in a single slot red leather pencase. That case did not have a zipper. Let's try to zoom in on the pencase. If the brand of the pen case was the same brand as the pen itself, we are looking for a pen-pencase combination that was available in 1938 and rather common. Who has any knowledge about 1938 German red leather single slot pencases without a zipper that was sold under the name of a pen manufacturer? Anyone ?

 

My small search on the web did not show any Osmia pencases. Peilkan, Montblanc and Kaweco did..

 

Ruud

 

The book I referenced in my earlier post shows the restored house. There are three pictures of her desk - two just show a single pen on the desk. The third is a close up and shows a two pen case, with a zipper, and two pens in the case. Of, course these are probably just "props" for the book. But, the curators of the museum might have accurate information on the subject at hand.

 

On the desk is also the red diary (prop of course) and what looks to be a large bottle of vintage Pelican Ink.

 

In the Introduction, Hans Westra, Executive Director, Anne Frank House, writes: "...In compiling this book, we followed the museum-route through the Anne Frank House. The quotations and objects displayed in the actual exhibition can also be found here, supplemented by background information. After the arrest on August 4, 1944, the Secret Annex was emptied of all its furnishings by order of the German Occupation authorities. To provide a better impression of the situation during the hiding period, color photographs of a temporary refurnishing of both the front part of the house and the Secret Annex, are included in this book. In 1954, black & white photographs of the Anne Frank House sere made by the photographer Maria Austria. Many of these photographs also appear here..."

 

Of course, this tells us nothing about the pen; but a visit to the museum may be of value. I'm curious as to the "supplemented by background information" statement.

 

 

Mescoff

 

[Viseguy]

Could you please change your quote to correct her grammar? If you translate "Me, the proud owner of a fountain pen" back to Dutch it makes her sound really stupid. I'm sorry I don't know how else put it. "Me" instead of "I" is an error that is hardly ever made in Dutch.

It's not an "error" in English, just a more colloquial way of saying it. In fact, I, the proud owner of a fountain pen sounds rather stilted in English if the intent of the original was to express surprise, joy, or some other strong emotion, as opposed to simply making a formal declaration of fact. I don't know Dutch, but I suspect, from the context provided by the translation in the original post, that Shangas's earlier rendering better captures, in English, the spirit of Anne Frank's exclamation. How you would translate it back into Dutch is neither here nor there. Shangas, you were right the first time, as far as I'm concerned.

[ruud2904]

The book I referenced in my earlier post shows the restored house. ....In the Introduction, Hans Westra, Executive Director, Anne Frank House, writes: "...In compiling this book, we followed the museum-route through the Anne Frank House. The quotations and objects displayed in the actual exhibition can also be found here, supplemented by background information. .....

 

Of course, this tells us nothing about the pen; but a visit to the museum may be of value. I'm curious as to the "supplemented by background information" statement.

 

 

Mescoff

 

Probably the term background information is pointing at the information that can be found at the information centre of the museum. This is normally closed for visitors and can only be accessed after appointment only. It contains

 

quote from the museum website

 

The documentation center manages a collection of 6,000 books, 350 magazine subscriptions, 1,200 videotapes and 40,000 cuttings.

The collection comprises the following themes:

 

Anne Frank:

the diary, translations, biographies, memoirs, the plays and film versions, the Anne Frank Stichting and the Anne Frank House.

 

Holocaust education:

supporting material for teachers about the persecution of Jews and the holocaust.

 

Racism and discrimination:

reports, research reports and (scientific) papers on numerous social areas, such as the labor market, education and housing.

 

Right-wing extremism:

background information, right-wing extremist propaganda and a comprehensive collection of recorded right-wing extremist websites.

 

unquote

 

 

Too much to read/see/experience for my likings. Is there somebody out there that is already retired and is interested ?

 

 

 

[ruud2904]

I have found on You Tube a clip where Anne receives her fountain pen from her grandmother.

Here's the link to that Video

 

I took this frozen picture from the video.

 

 

The color of the pen case is red and without a zipper. (They did that pretty well). Now what do you make of the pen. It seems like a MB to me. Any other suggestions?

 

Ruud

 

 

 

 

 

[Sonnet]

I have found on You Tube a clip where Anne receives her fountain pen from her grandmother.

Here's the link to that Video

 

I took this frozen picture from the video.

 

 

The color of the pen case is red and without a zipper. (They did that pretty well). Now what do you make of the pen. It seems like a MB to me. Any other suggestions?

 

Ruud

 

Ruud, is this the TV movie that was on a few years ago?

 

[ruud2904]

I think this is called "Anne Frank, the whole story" It dates from 2001 and the names related to it are Kirk Ellis and Melissa Mueller. I can not tell if that movie was on your TV... There are many parts of this movie to be found on YouTube. I think I will see them all in the next days. Perhaps there are more shots of the pen in the movie. Of course there is no "hard proven" relationship between the pen in the movie and the real pen.

 

Ruud

[ruud2904]

Today I have received answer to my question to the Montblanc company if there were any indication that the pen that was used by Anne Frank was a Montblanc fountain pen. The answer was : At Montblanc we are not sure wether the pen Anne used was a Montblanc Pen. = Femke de Jong = Montblanc Customer Service.

 

Ruud

[gregoron]

In a way it's good if that fact will remain a mystery. Although Anne Frank cherished that pen, I believe that, at the time, she felt her words were more important. Otherwise, she would have named the pen in her diary.

 

Thanks for trying though.

 

Today I have received answer to my question to the Montblanc company if there were any indication that the pen that was used by Anne Frank was a Montblanc fountain pen. The answer was : At Montblanc we are not sure wether the pen Anne used was a Montblanc Pen. = Femke de Jong = Montblanc Customer Service.

 

Ruud

 

[wildflowers66]

Hello,

 

I know nothing about fountain pens but I have a question. My son is doing monologue from Anne Frank's diary and props are needed. We have an old fountain pen, please forgive my ignorance but would Anne Frank have used some kind of ink bottle/well? Thank you!

[Thornton]

Hello,

 

I know nothing about fountain pens but I have a question. My son is doing monologue from Anne Frank's diary and props are needed. We have an old fountain pen, please forgive my ignorance but would Anne Frank have used some kind of ink bottle/well? Thank you!

 

Welcome! I believe that Anne Frank used both a fountain pen and a dip pen. Either way, she would have had to have a bottle of ink to fill the fountain pen, or dip the dip pen into. Good luck to your son, and let us know if you have any other questions.