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].
Commanditaire Vennootschap (CV) = Limited Partnership.
➤ Wikipedia
The company later became a Naamloze Vennootschap (NV) —
a Public Limited Company (Plc).
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.
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Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 24 April 2022. Last changed: Monday, 15 January 2024 - 16:15 CET.
