Trademark Minerva

Radiola in 1924In 1919 Wilhelm Wohleber founded a company for electrotechnical items, which he settled in Vienna.
In 1924, when radio fever gripped Europe, he thought about expanding the business and included simple radios and components in his program. At that time, the small company called itself "RADIOLA". The products had different names, such as: AERIOLA, AEROPHON, RADIOGLOBE, RADIOLA and RADIOPA. Everything was produced, from the simple detector apparatus to the highest-quality 8-tube receiving systems. But the problems with the company name and the product names were foreseeable (Radiola was a protected name for RCA in the USA, there was also a manufacturer with the same name in France, Aeriola was the brand name of Westinghouse). Therefore had to Wilhelm Wohleber quickly find a new company name in order to avoid possible lawsuits from large corporations. From 1927 the company was called "MINERVA", although in Germany the Carl Lochmann company, Berlin, held the same name.

The year 1938 brought a major turning point in the development of the company, when Austria and with it all of its industry was incorporated into the German Reich. During the war years that followed, Minerva had to betray his intention to only produce superhet receivers by being obliged to produce the DKE and VE.

The first FM receiver was mass-produced and exported as early as 1950. Minerva was also at the forefront in the development and production of the first television receivers.

Up until 1968, Minerva was a byword for quality and reliability among customers and service technicians at home and abroad.