It all began with exercise books, which the bookbinder Max Conrad produced in Breslau from 1888. Step by step, he expanded his company to include a print shop and a specialist paper store. Today, the integrated production of print products is once again an essential part of the Sportflieger DNA.

At the age of 56 Max Conrad handed over his company in 1918 to his children Herrmann, Richard and Luise. Above all, Richard, born in 1887, was to shape the fate of the company until his death in 1942. His wife Else continued to run the Breslau business until 1945.

New start in Berlin
Son Siegfried, born in 1919, was the third generation to run the bookbindery. In 1948, he opened a new location in Berlin – in Düsterhauptstraße in Hermsdorf. Siegfried Conrad remembers the hard times.

These were difficult years, because the currency reform siphoned off all the cintizens‘ money. Today it is unimaginable that I have bound 10,000 pocket calendars of 4 sheets each by hand under these circumstances. There were 40,000 sheets to be folded by hand as a 4-break, 40,000 sheets to be stitched with needle and thread, the covers to be produced manually, the book blocks to be trimmed with a lever trimmer, the year on the cover to be embossed with an iron under physical force and finished manually.

But the effort should bear fruit: With the takeover of Druckerei Walter Möller, the Conrad company expanded in 1963 and moved to Wachsmuthstraße 12 in Berlin-Hermsdorf. The print shop and bookbindery merged into one company.

Berlin wants more power
1991 the company Conrad was taken over by Karl-Heinz Zahn and Matthias Fuhrmann. With the acquisition of modern multicolor offset presses and the establishment of a prepress for sheet sizes up to 72 x 102 cm, the small company became a medium-sized enterprise that was able to react well to the new market conditions in reunified Berlin.

In 1999, the printing house moved to its new location at Oranienburger Straße 172 in Berlin-Wittenau. The first 5-color machine for sheet sizes up to 72 x 102 cm was operated here – and a bookbindery was set up to industrial standards, As a result, Conrad increasingly developed into a provider of complex printing services: The printing press park and bookbindery were completely modernized and the number of employees multiplied.

“Art at Conrad“
Conrad increasingly specialized in high-quality print products. With changing art exhibitions in the production rooms („Art at Conrad“), the printing house proved its high level of competence in the art and culture market … and has since worked closely with artists and cultural institutions such as theatres and galleries.

In 2012, the Conrad Ltd. printing house moved to Breitenbachstraße 34-36 in Borsigwalde district. The architecture clearly reflected the new orientation oft he company: In addition to the print shop and bookbindery, the new „Conrad digital“ department was now also located on the three separate floors. Conrad digital bundled printing experience and innovations in the scan and archive sector, thus expanding its range of services.

Welcome to the Druckhaus
Renewal is a concept at Conrad: In 2019, the offset division of the print shop was taken over by medialis Offsetdruck Ltd.. Since 2020, Conrad has been an integral part of the new Druckhaus Sportflieger in Oberschöneweide. After over 130 years of history and with a completely new layout, the spirit of the company remains alive: Printing and bookbinding go hand in hand; complex printing projects are implemented with high quality and passion!