neumann.berlin

the microphone company

CMV 3 – The Beginning

Georg Neumann founded his company 1928 in Berlin after having invented the Reisz-Microphone. In his young Neumann company he pursued the manufacture of a condenser micro- phone, which soon was referred to as the “Neumann Bottle”.

The shape of the amplifier begged for the association with the microphone’s nickname. It featured interchangeable heads, so different microphone capsules with cardioid, figure -8 and omni directional patterns could be applied. These

M7, M 8 and M 9 capsules acquired world-fame. Espe- cially the M 7 capsule be-

came a hallmark for Neu- mann. Using more modern membrane material, it is still being produced today in Berlin as the K 49.

Many reports, some of which made radio history, were made with this micro- phone, e.g. the report on the 4 x 100 m women relay race at the Olympic Games 1936 in Berlin, with the Germans clearly

leading, when suddenly they lost the baton; or the victory and world record of Jesse Owens in the 100 m race. Chamberlain spoke into this microphone when returning from Munich September 30, 1938, where he had tried to save the peace, and a few years later Berlin mayor Ernst Reuter addressed the “Völker der Welt... schaut auf diese Stadt”, marking the beginning of the Berlin Blockade.

World history went on, documented with assistance of this Neumann mi- crophone, produced from the end of the 1920’s through the 1940’s. After the end of WW II some members of the Neumann staff returned to Berlin after having spent a couple of years working in “exile” in a place close to the Bavari- an border. The old “Neu-

mann Bottle” was still the highly respected and desired condenser microphone manufactured by Neumann.

The CMV 3 was at the beginning of a proud tradition, which Neumann consequently continued. In the near future we intend to trace Neumann’s further steps along its path to electro-acoustic excellence. Meanwhile, we hope this glimpse into our archives has peaked your interest and invite you to follow here the developments which built upon the success of Georg Neumann’s initial product.