ORAMI

ORAMI, short for Orientalisch Macedonische Cigarettenfabrik, was founded in 1917 by Wolf David Berger in Dresden, Germany.

 

Berger's background in cigarette making came from America; in 1906 at the age of 19, Berger left Germany and travelled to America where he learned about cigarette making and marketing. In 1911, Berger returned to Germany and found employment with Hugo Zietz - Dresden's largest cigarette maker and owner of Orienta (Orientalische Tabak und Cigarettenfabrik) at the landmark Yenidze tobacco factory in the center of Dresden.

 

In 1917, after a disagreement with Zietz, Berger left Yenidze to establish his own cigarette factory, ORAMI, just a few kilometers away at Schandauer Strasse 34. The ORAMI factory was located few metres away from another of Dresden's leading cigarette makers, Jasmatzi & Sons.  

 

ORAMI quickly became one of Germany's most successful independent cigarette makers, combining unparalleled quality with outstanding value. Much of Berger's success came from what he had learned in America about marketing, and what he learned at Yenidze about blending Macedonian tobacco to make fine cigarettes. 

 

With his own business, Berger was able to use the ideas that he had to expand cigarette sales, ideas that Zietz had rejected as unnecessary or too expensive. Berger wanted his customers to enjoy more than just fine cigarettes; he wanted his customers to become part of a brand that projected excellence. The cigarette packaging had to be better than the competition, the advertising had to be more colorful and relevant to modern Germans.

 

At the core of his vision of Orami was the expansion of the cigarette cards that were to be included in every cigarette pack. Berger was not the first to enclose cigarette cards with his packs; but he was the first to change the type of cards from boring artist renditions of historical figures, to high quality photographs of modern heroes and idols; movie stars, athletes and even political figures.

 

Berger's success did not come without a price. His competitors formed a cartel and tried everything imaginable to hamper the success of ORAMI and other independent "Konzernfreie" cigarette factories in Dresden. In 1924, his mentor Hugo Zietz gave in to the pressure and sold Yenidze and his Orienta brands to  Reemtsma. By 1929, Reemstsma had also acquired ORAMI's neighbor, Jasmatzi & Sons. But despite all the pressure from the cartel, ORAMI continued to succeed.

 

The cartel tried to lower the price of their products, but Berger was able to match their prices. The cartel pressured the German tax authorities to make it difficult for ORAMI to get the tax stamps that had to be put on every cigarette pack before it was sold, but Berger met with high-level politicians in Berlin and convinced them to give ORAMI the same terms as the cartel. By 1935 ORAMI had grown to be one of Dresden's major cigarette manufacturers, and more importantly to the German government, it was one of Dresden's biggest employers with a staff of over 500 and sales matching and exceeding the cartel. Such was the success and popularity of ORAMI that it was the favored brand of military , police and government officials, much to the chagrin of the cartel.

 

In 1935, as a result of the Nuremberg Laws, Berger was expelled from Germany and had to live in Teplice (Czechoslovakia) 70Kms away from his factory in Dresden. A Nazi party member was appointed to run ORAMI in Berger's absence, and Berger was only allowed to visit his factory once a week. Under these circumstances, ORAMI's business suffered to such an extent that ORAMI's bankers, the Dresdner Bank feared that ORAMI would go out of business with the embarrassing loss of many jobs. "No Berger, no business," was the simple yet forceful message delivered to Berlin. Miraculously, Berger's expulsion was rescinded and he was allowed to return to Dresden and reassume leadership of ORAMI. 

 

After an absence of 9 months, Berger returned to Dresden early in 1936. He quickly re-established sales and restored production to such an extent that he was able to present a plan to Dresdner Bank to finance the purchase of automatic cigarette rolling machines from America. These machines would boost ORAMI's cigarette production to such an extent that a further 500 jobs would be created. The plan was quickly approved and late in 1936, Berger was able to purchase three machines from the US company founded by James Buchanan Duke and his partner James Bonsack who had invented and patented the world's only viable cigarette rolling machine. 

 

The automation of cigarette production at ORAMI looked set to give Berger the lead in the industry, but by 1937 Berger's friends in Berlin warned him that they could no longer protect him. Berger has already moved his family from their home in Leipzig to Switzerland, and on September 5, 1937, Berger left Dresden on a "business trip" to Milan, Italy. From there he travelled Paris, France and then to London, England.

 

Berger left ORAMI in the hands of his faithful manager, Wilhelm Ackermann, always hoping that the Nazi regime would end, and that he could return to Germany and the business that had become his life. Until the outbreak of WWII in 1939, Ackermann kept Berger fully informed of ORAMI's continued success, but then communications became impossible.

 

It is believed that ORAMI continued to make cigarettes until sadly, in 1945, the ORAMI factory was badly damaged during the Allied bombing that destroyed much of Dresden. Any hopes of Berger's return were further dashed by the subsequent Soviet occupation of eastern Germany. Berger died peacefully in London, England in 1956, never realizing his dream to return to Germany.

 

After the collapse of the Soviet regime and the reunification of Germany, Berger's grandson, David Berger, visited Dresden to see what, if anything, remained of ORAMI. He found that the site of the ORAMI factory at Schandauer Strasse 34 had been rebuilt as offices and retail shops. The neighboring Jasmatzi  factory was still standing and operating as a cigarette factory. The Yenidze was also standing, and has been restored as an office building and restaurant.

 

Although ORAMI ceased production in 1945, in many ways its legacy lives on. Today ORAMI cigarette cards and albums are prized possessions among collectors and are regularly listed on auction sites such as eBay(TM).

 

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