ALBERT FRANK  - FRANKONIA #22 - Auto side Light Lamp (Auto Seitenlicht)

This style lantern is out of my scope of collecting, but when I saw it was an Albert Frank Lamp then I had to have this in my collection. To say this lamp is 'rare' is an understatement.

It is all brass and copper.  Inside are hand fashioned copper rivets.  The rounded beveled glass is pristine with no cracks.  The burner has the München Kindle logo on the wick driver which I've never seen before.  It is nickel plated underneath and has a very different attachment for the shaft. See the photo in the gallery.

The fuel fount has a 'slosh' tube inside. As you fill the fuel pot with fuel, it fills up through a seam. This was to help prevent spillage while the car was in motion.

On the side is the badge:  'FRANKONIA 22'.  The badge is made out of copper.  I believe that this number indicates the model number and/or indicates which side of the auto it would be mounted on.  It has the insert for the bracket which then would have attached to the car.  On the rear of the lantern is red glass and on the backside of the reflector insert, it has either frosted glass or mica.  The reflector is extremely fragile.  I could not remove the rust from the reflector due to it being so fragile. It was coated with rust stopping flat black paint in order to preserve it.

With the kind assistance from Maik Stieler, author of 'Die Sturmlantern', it is his opinion that this lantern was made sometime between 1907-1914.  With my own research of German Auto history, the cars that had this style lantern were from 1907 and even earlier. The most prevalent model being the Mercedes.   In the photo gallery are two examples. As the years went by, this style was not used any longer.  The only way to date this lantern for sure is to find an Albert Frank catalog from that year. 

Circa: 1907- 1914