Chest - Wood

L. Zollitsch Augsburg – Large travel trunk Godlieb Brunner – ca. 1880–1890

Extraordinary and largely original-preserved German travel trunk from the late 19th century, manufactured or distributed by L. Zollitsch in Augsburg, with very interesting and traceable provenance.

The large travel trunk probably dates from the 1880s and features a domed lid, a solid wooden hull with textile or linen-like exterior covering, numerous riveted metal fittings and reinforcements, and two front locks. The original gray-blue surface finish is still largely present in broad areas and shows a pronounced authentic patina of age.

Particularly notable is the historically preserved manufacturer’s label inside with the inscription:
„Fabrik & Lager in Reise-Effecten & Lederwaaren von L. Zollitsch – Maximilianstrasse C.4“
The historic Augsburg address „Maximilianstrasse C.4“ corresponds, according to the old Augsburg Litera-Haus number system, to today’s Maximilianstraße 17 in Augsburg.

On and beside the manufacturer’s label there are several historical owner stamps with the clearly legible inscription:
„Gottlieb Brunner – Ansbach“

Research in the official student registers of the Royal Bavarian Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich makes the identification of this owner highly probable. There, from at least 1885 to 1889 a Gottlieb Brunner from Ansbach is documented as a law student. In the winter semester 1886/87 and in other semesters he is listed with the Munich address Landschaftsgasse/Landschaftstraße 11/1, for example.
This person is Gottlieb Ludwig Brunner (1865–1923), who, after his law studies, pursued a career in the royal Bavarian civil service.

Brunner was appointed royal Bavarian district assessor in Nabburg in 1902, later transferred to Erlangen, and later worked in Wunsiedel. For him, a personal file is stored in the Bavarian Main State Archive under the signature BayHStA, MInn 64107 – „Brunner Gottlieb Reg.Rat Wunsiedel“.
This combination of an original manufacturer’s label and multiple owner stamps makes the creation or use of the chest during Brunner’s student years in the 1880s particularly plausible. Therefore the object is cautiously dated to ca. 1880–1890, probably 1885–1889.
Brunner married in 1906 Henrikke Hanna Emilie Rønneberg Kielland in Stavanger. From the marriage, among others, the son Max Jan Brunner was born in Wunsiedel in 1909.
On the outside of the trunk there is a strongly damaged original paper label whose top line may begin with „Max Brunn...“. Due to its condition, the inscription is not fully legible. If it indeed reads „Max Brunner“, a later transfer of the travel trunk within the family — from father Gottlieb to his son Max — would be conceivable. This is, however, expressly a hypothesis based on the label and family history, not a confirmed provenance statement.

Who was Max Jan Brunner?
There is surprisingly a lot of information about him as well.
Max Jan Brunner was born in 1909 in Wunsiedel, attended a pro gymnasium and trained as a ceramicist in Bunzlau in Silesia. He also completed a business school and worked or practiced at several porcelain factories. (During World War II he served as an interpreter among other roles, was reportedly wounded four times according to family tradition, and received the Iron Cross. Later he worked for a newspaper in Munich in 1956. In 1936 he married in Munich Martha Maria Felizitas Kangol, born 1914 in Memel.)

The interior is still lined with the old blue-beige striped textile or paper-textile lining. This also shows clear signs of its age and long use.
The trunk is deliberately in unrestored or largely untouched original condition. Exterior shows strong signs of age and use, color loss, soiling, oxidation on metal parts, and damage to the textile covering. Inside there are numerous old stains and water stains as well as age-related damage to the lining. The historical manufacturer’s label and the owner stamps are still very readable despite their age. The outer paper label is only fragmentary.
These very signs of use, labels, stamps, and the old surface finish were not restored or reworked, as they are essential parts of the history and provenance of this more than 130-year-old luggage piece.

The trunk measures approximately 90–91 cm wide and about 61–62 cm high. Depth about 54 cm.

A historically interesting and exceptionally decorative original object from the early era of modern travel in the German Empire – with a manufacturer’s label from an Augsburg travel goods dealer and an unusually well reconstructable history of ownership.

The attached photographs are part of the condition description. Due to size and weight, the object must be securely packed or possibly shipped by freight forwarder.