Esbit Kocher Mod.9 Advice

[Pauls1970]

Hi Guys,
Recently acquired this Esbit Kocher, complete with contents & noticed a few differences with regard to the text, on the front right hand 'flap' & on the inner tray:
1.On the flap:
Mod.9 D.R.P
und
Auslandspatente

2. On the inner tray under Erich Schumm it reads:
GMBH
Murrharbt/Wurtt
I read elsewhere that the firm was bombed out in 1943 & had to re-locate, so I'm presuming this was the new wartime address for production & was changed as such, along with the wording on the front. The tablets came out of the stove container & I would say they have always been together, due to appropiate & matching wear marks, which corresponds with each other, so I'm thinking it's a 43-45 produced, I've just not seen another like it on the forum. Wonder if anyone could shed any light on this at all ?
Kind regards
Paul

[Neil Hever]

It is different from mine which carries the Stuttgart address. I will have to take a look at mine for comparison. NH

[Pauls1970]

It is different from mine which carries the Stuttgart address. I will have to take a look at mine for comparison. NH

Thanks Neil, all the ones I've seen on here have the Stuttgart address & Mod.9 Gesch marks, trying to fathom it out !

[Neil Hever]

Hare is the more typical Esbit cooker with the markings you mentioned. One clue to your stove is the marking Auslandspatente. It translates to Foreign patent or export patent. Your example is marked for export. I would guess that it means a post 1943 example available for purchase throughout the Grossdeutches Reich. As you stated, it appears the original factory in Stuttgart was destroyed and Schumm was expelled from the NSDAP party membership there in 1943. The factory was relocated to Murrhardt as you mention. Schumm made claims he kept slave labor at work to prevent their relocation to death camps. Might be a similar kind of story to Schindler but I am not sure about that aspect. Good job on the history research. NH

[Neil Hever]

Paul, Note this! Your box for tablets is from Stuttgart and my box is from Murrhardt! You have the Murrhadt stove and Stuttgart produced tablets and I have the opposite. NH

[Neil Hever]

...and my box is marked D.R.W.Z. The export group Deutsche Raiffeisen Warenzentrale was founded in 1948 - so that makes my tablet box post war. I do have a war time box as well. We both learned something today. NH

[Larboard]

Nice to see a thread start on these ;-)

Here is mine, forget the story on it, supposedly a vet bringback. I got it because the stove was in extra fine condition, not a lot of rust on the bottom plate.

[Pauls1970]

There was a reference to the change of address somewhere on this fantastic forum & found out elsewhere it had been bombed. Due to the 'Non-teethed' design I assume it to be pre 45, coupled with the fact that the fuel box (manafactured in Stuttgart) came with the stove. Maybe more 'fuel' than cookers survived the bombing, hence the pairing of the two at the new plant. Could it be that these were being sold to the Axis Armies, hence the Auslande Patente & when the stamping dies were re-made for the kocher in 1943, the new factory name as well as the DRP/Auslande were added to cover both eventualities ?
Amazing that between us , we've got a matching set !

[Pauls1970]

Lovely examples Larboard & Neil, thankyou for sharing !

[Neil Hever]

Happy to share some info on these. These are great little items. Apparently, they were quite popular with Axis and Allied troops. I'm sure that boxes of pre bombing fuel tablets were available after 1943 from stocks. Take a careful look at the front of my box and you will see a number 6 stamped over the 20. Apparently, the tablet size changed at some point. This makes it easier to identify war time tablets in the smaller size of 20 tablets. NH