Which pens are those German parliament stenographers using?

[Tintenfisch]

From a video from the Bavarian parliament it shows to stenographers (shorthand protocollants) using two different pens.

They must have some kind of flex in the nib, because German shorthand requires line variation (see the photograph for reference).

Unfortunately, the video is low resolution, so I could only manage to make these blurry screenshots.

 

Do you have any guesses to identify of which models those two pens might be?

Thank you!

 

[Beechwood]

Cannot help with the name but can you see that Pen 2 also has a telephone dialler tip?

[Tintenfisch]

7 minutes ago, China Light said:

Cannot help with the name but can you see that Pen 2 also has a telephone dialler tip?

Unfortunately, I have never heard of a telephone dialler tip. This is the Youtube shorts video showing both pens in low resolution (where I got the screenshots from): 

 

[Beechwood]

A long time ago telephones had a rotary dialler, you put your finger in the hole of the number you wanted, turned the dial, let it go and then dialled the next number. Not really an issue for a home phone but at work it could be a problem if you were calling a lot or numbers and especially if you had long painted nails. 

 

A metal tip to the pen allowed you to use the end of the pen instead of your finger.

[Tintenfisch]

@China Light Interesting! That could well be that the metal part was also for rotary phones.

I suspect both pens are vintage German pens, so that would make sense, since in the 50s/60s/70s there were a lot of rotary dial phones in Germany.

 

Also, the vintage nibs often are more flexible than modern ones, so another reason they might use vintage nibs/pens to achieve that line variation needed for German shorthand (DEK system). 

[Zookie]

Pen # 1 looks to me like it has either a blind cap, or is a piston filler.

Was there a standard pen used in the Bavarian parliament ? Is It left up to the stenographer themselves ?

[Penguincollector]

  Is there a current or past Stenographer’s union, organization, or club that they would traditionally be affiliated with that you could snail mail, email or call and ask?

[Tintenfisch]

3 hours ago, Zookie said:

Pen # 1 looks to me like it has either a blind cap, or is a piston filler.

Was there a standard pen used in the Bavarian parliament ? Is It left up to the stenographer themselves ?

 

I guess it is left up to themselves, as they not only use different fountain pens, but also soft shorthand pencils and some even use ballpoint pens (with higher levels of German shorthand, the line variation is not that important any more, I guess, because the abbreviation symbols are much shorter).

 

2 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  Is there a current or past Stenographer’s union, organization, or club that they would traditionally be affiliated with that you could snail mail, email or call and ask?

 

This is a good idea, haven't thought about that! I could definitely mail the Bavarian Parliament, who put that video on their youtube channel. Maybe they can refer me to the Stenographer's union.

[Penguincollector]

4 hours ago, Tintenfisch said:

 

This is a good idea, haven't thought about that! I could definitely mail the Bavarian Parliament, who put that video on their youtube channel. Maybe they can refer me to the Stenographer's union.

  I hope they have an answer for you! 

[InkyProf]

https://www.bayerischer-stenografenverband.de

[Tintenfisch]

3 hours ago, InkyProf said:

https://www.bayerischer-stenografenverband.de

Thanks, I found their mail on the impressum on the site you linked.

I just mailed them and am excited for the answer (although it might take some weeks if they reply at all, knowing German authorities and associations 😉).

[InkyProf]

One thing is certain: you will not hear back from them on a Sunday in August! 🙂

 

I hope they reply soon -- good luck!

 

[carola]

There is a second video:

 

Behind him on his desk, there is his pen. I can see something white on top of the cap. Maybe a vintage Montblanc?

And yes, it looks like a piston filler. There also seems to be some engraving on the knob.

[Tintenfisch]

@carola Very nice find, thank you for posting the video!

I think now it is clear that it is a Montblanc (the snowcap finial is a dead giveaway) and most likely a vintage one, since nibs on German pens used to be "flexier" (even if not nominally flex nibs).

 

  

 

I wrote an email to the Bavarian stenographer's association and am now hoping they will reply and maybe give me some fountain pen recommendations for German shorthand (DEK). 

 

[Tintenfisch]

Whilst waiting for a reply of the Bavarian stenographer's association, I did some further research and narrowed it down to a 1950s (or 1960s) vintage 3xx or 2xx Montblanc model, possibly of Danish production. 

 

Here are some clues so far:

 

[WalterC]

Pelikan used to have a nib they  called "Steno".  From what I've read, Steno nibs were somewhat flexible. Pens with Steno nibs occasionally show up on ebay.

[Zookie]

Wearever also produced a steno nib.

[Larry Barrieau]

I wonder if any ffountain pens had a dialer on the end.  The dial had some reistance and was done rapidly.  I think that inik would shake out of the nib with that kind of motion.  

[carola]

I also can't shake the feeling that I have seen that pen with the metal knob before - but for the life of me I can't place it.

 

It reminds me a lot of the Pelikan M625 Blue or Aubergine transparent, but neither of them has that particular notch in the knob. Also the pen doesn't seem to have a metal section and it looks fairly large in his hand, rather something the size of a Pelikan M800 or even M1000.

[Tashi_Tsering]

In my opinion, pen #2 is the Cross Peerless 125