Goertz Mantelhaus was a German coat and fashion retailer based in Cologne, known for its focus on large-size outerwear. The company operated from a landmark building on Hohe Straße, one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, for decades before closing in 2004.
Design and History
The Goertz Mantelhaus trademark was designed in 1966 by Swiss graphic designer Hans-Ulrich Allemann, who created it while working at the Erwin Halpern advertising agency in Zurich. The Swiss Foundation for Design and Culture in Graphic Design and Poster Art (SGDG) documents the mark as “Goerz, Damen Modehaus, Köln” (Goerz, women’s fashion house, Cologne), executed for the Halpern agency in 1966.[1]
Allemann, born in Switzerland in 1944, studied at the Basel School of Design under Armin Hofmann, Emil Ruder, Donald Brun, and Walter Bodmer, graduating in 1961. After completing his training, he worked at the Erwin Halpern advertising agency in Zurich.[2] The Goertz mark was produced during this early period of his career, before he left for a teaching position at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1967.[2]
The company itself was founded in 1953 as a family business specializing in large-size clothing (Großkonfektion).[3] The building it occupied, constructed in 1955 after plans by architects Günter and Hans Bunge, became known as the “Mantelhaus” (coat house) because of the store’s long residency there.[4] Breuninger acquired the company in 1990, transforming the specialist store into a designer fashion destination before it closed in 2004.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The SGDG archive lists the Goertz mark as a “Markenzeichen” (trademark), a term used in the foundation’s documentation to describe corporate identity marks and logos. The archive does not provide a detailed description of the mark’s visual elements or documented symbolism.[1]
Allemann’s training at the Basel School of Design under Hofmann and Ruder placed him within the Swiss modernist tradition, which emphasized clarity and systematic typographic approaches.[2] However, no source documents specific design intent or symbolic meaning for the Goertz mark itself.
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