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Koopman & Co.
Technical trading company · 1887-1972

Commanditaire Vennootschap G.C. Koopman & Co — Agents & Brokers., 1 also known by the abbreviated name Koopman & Co, was a Dutch trading company, established in 1887 by George Caspar Koopman and headquartered in Amsterdam (Netherlands). In the early years, the company traded in gas and electricity, and was also active in the insurance business [1]. Koopman acted as agent for several foreign companies – in particular from Sweden – including L.M. Ericsson & Co. and A.B. Cryptoteknik (Hagelin), for which they sold telephone equipment and cipher machines.


The company had offices in The Netherlands (Amsterdam), the US (New York) and the Dutch East-Indies (Djakarta, Bandoeng), and representations in several other countries. Company members were also responsible for the incorporation of several other businesses, including Eerste Neder­landsche Electriciteitsmaatschappij (First Dutch Electricity Society) and NV Nederlandsche Ericsson Telefoon Maatschappij (Dutch branch of the Swedish L.M. Ericsson Telephone company).


Over the years, the company logo changed gradually from the stylish caligraphy font shown at the top of this page, to the two sans-serif bold variants shown above. In 1964, trading and transport company Vulcaan in Rotterdam (Netherlands) acquired the majority of the shares [2]. In 1972, the company was split in two parts that were sold separately. Stokvis took over the majority, whilst Geveke Electronics (later: Getronics NV) took over the electronics branch [3][4].

  1. Commanditaire Vennootschap (CV) = Limited Partnership.  Wikipedia
    The company later became a Naamloze Vennootschap (NV) — a Public Limited Company (Plc).
  2. English: First Dutch Electricity Society.
  3. Dutch branch of the Swedish L.M. Ericsson Telephone company (later: Ericsson Telecommunicatie BV) [5].

Koopman & Co. products on this website
C-36
C-443
C-446-A and C-446(RT)
BC-39 (motorised version of BC-38 / M-209)
Hagelin Cryptos
Before and after World War II (WWII), Koopman & Co. acted as the official agent (distributor) of Boris Hagelin's company A.B. Cryptoteknik in Stockholm (Sweden), and from 1952 onwards also of Crypto AG in Zug (Switzerland). The company supplied Hagelin's cipher machines, such as the C-362, C-446 and BC-38 to the Dutch Armed Forces — Army, Navy and Air Force.

In November 1939, just before the outbreak of WWII in The Netherlands, the Dutch Navy ordered 69 Hagelin machines type C-362, soon followed by an order for 40 additional units for the Army Signal Corps. Delivery of the latter was delayed until June 1940, and came too late to be of use — the Netherlands had been invaded by Germany on 10 May 1940. As a result, the order had to be cancelled and Koopman & Co was compensated for the loss in 1941 by the Weltman Commission, with permission from the German occupant.


Known addresses
Netherlands
  • 1897
    Koopman & Co.
    Heerengracht 455
    Amsterdam

  • 1998
    Koopman & Co.
    Prinsengracht 739
    Amsterdam

  • 1925
    Koopman & Co.
    Heerengracht 370
    Amsterdam

  • 1930
    Koopman & Co.
    Gebouw 'Atlanta'
    Stadhouderskade 3
    Amsterdam

  • 1963
    Koopman & Co.
    Gebouw 'Atlanta'
    Stadhouderskade 6
    Amsterdam
    Telephone: 82821
    Telegram: KJOEBMAND

  • 1970
    Koopman & Co. n.v. Electronica
    Gebouw 'Atlanta'
    Stadhouderskade 6
    Amsterdam
    Telephone: 182821
    Telex: 11273

  • 1971
    Koopman & Co. n.v. Electronica
    Spaklerweg 53
    Amsterdam-Amstel
    Telephone: 020-944545
    Telex: 11273
Foreign offices
  • Koopman & Co Belgique s.a.
    Bd. Em. Bockstael, 5
    1020 Bruxelles
    Belgique
    Telephone: (02) 277185
    Telex: 23616

  • Koopman-France s.a.r.l.
    45-47 rue Villiers de l'Osle Adam
    Paris 20e
    France
    Telephone: (797) 9853
    Telex: 21525

  • Dynatec Datenverarbeitung-Elekrotechnik Vertriebs G.m.b.H.
    Hanse-Allee 159
    4 Dusseldorf-Oberkassel
    Germany
    Telephone: 5910872
    Telex: 8584389

  • New York
    (USA)

  • Djakarta
    Indonesia (Dutch East-Indies)

  • Bandoeng
    Indonesia (Dutch East-Indies)

Known board members
  • George Caspar Koopman
  • Henri Gerardus Blickman
  • A.D. van Woerden
  • Wilhelm Ludwig Morsink (28 Jul 1881)
  • Jan Daniël Sickler (22 Jun 1865) — 1890
  • Johan Alex Blickman (27 Oct 1879)
  • A.A. Hebly
  • ir. R.C. Nauta
Core business
  • Steam turbines - Laval (1893)
  • Gas accumulators (1906)
  • Electricity plants
  • Import
  • Export
  • Transport insurances
  • Telephone systems (Ericsson)
  • Cipher machines (Hagelin)
  • Pontons
  • Airplanes (Fokker)
Known company names
  • 1887
    Commanditaire Vennootschap G.C. Koopman & Co — Agents & Brokers.
  • 1931
    N.V. Indisch Kantoor van Koopman & Co.
  • 1963
    Koopman & Co. Technische Handel-Maatschappij NV
  • 1971
    Koopman & Co n.v. Electronica
Documentation
  1. Koopman & Co. to Depot Genietroepen, 15 November 1939
    Commissie to Afwikkeling van Defensiecontracten (Commissie Woltman), 1939-1941.
    Nationaal Archief, D23322, 2.13.47, inv. 337.
  1. Documents kindly provided by Maarten Oberman, December 2021.

References
  1. AGA Museum (Emmen, Netherlands), Koopman 1907
    Visited 14 April 2021.

  2. Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart uitgebreid 1
    Utrechts Nieuwsblad, 29 August 1964.

  3. Stokvis neemt Koopman over 1
    Het vrije volk, 29 October 1971.

  4. Koopman deels naar Stokvis, deels naar Geveke 1
    De Tijd, 10 December 1971.

  5. Wikipedia (Netherlands), Ericsson Telecommunicatie BV.
    Visited 24 April 2022.
  1. Obtained from [1].

Further information
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 24 April 2022. Last changed: Monday, 15 January 2024 - 16:15 CET.
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