Ravens

The raven – a uniquely clever creature, always on the go with an unbridled curiosity

It seemed logical for us to choose such a remarkable bird as our trademark logo.

A Living History

For thousands of years the raven played an important role in both legends and narrations. The ancient God Odin, relied heavily on his winged ambassadors for retrieving knowledge of what was going on elsewhere in the world.  Ancient stories of native man, even speak of the role ravens played in the creation of the world itself. We have come to learn more about the Raven over the years and it is its human-like qualities and behavioral patterns that truly make this bird remarkable. We were thus extremely humbled to experience this personally back in 1994.

Step-parentage

One day that year, an apprentice of ours brought us a tiny raven, which had fallen from its nest. His intention was that we nurse this bird back to full health on our company premises. The poor thing needed a name, so we christened it ‘Rohloff’. ‘Rohloff’ matured in our chain production room at our old company location in the in the Kassel, Germany. At night he slept in a huge, custom built aviary, situated in an idyllic part of our courtyard. During the day, before he learned to fly, he made himself at home on the handle of a transistor radio alongside the chain trimming table.

Our little orphan soon became a true member of the Rohloff family and a valued member of our workforce. ‘Rohloff’ was however not purely an accessory, but a living creature with his own personality and was thus given full access to roam nosily and painstakingly study anything within reach of his beak.

Detective on wings

‘Rohloff’ learned what was important to us and what was not with extreme speed. Letters, pens or small spare components from the chain production machine - they all had to be taken in his beak and examined. On the other hand, the abundant chain components and other metallic shiny things proved extremely uninteresting.
‘Rohloff’ soon cohabited the entire street. In the morning when his aviary was opened, he immediately performed a cascade of rollicking flight maneuvers. Followed by a dissonant croaky concert until we eventually opened a window for him on the fourth floor.

Around 9 a.m. each morning, an elderly lady living opposite would call ‘Rohloff’ for breakfast. ‘Rohloff ‘ then dutifully sat at her kitchen table on the back the chair and received his morning treats. After that, he off to the nearby kindergarten. Rohloff played tag with the children here and occasionally stole their sweets until around midday. The next stop on his list was to then visit the local pizzeria and offer patrons the courtesy of his presence. Final stop was back home, each day punctually at 4 p.m.. ‘Rohloff’ was no stranger to being a celebrity, even outside of Kassel. He enjoyed trips in the car and even escorted us to a trade show a few times in Cologne and Friedrichshafen.

A Constable of Ravens

‘Rohloff’ was not the only raven to have been adopted by us over the years. We have repeatedly helped charity organizations to raise other orphan raven babies over the years. Regardless how much these birds have meant to us however, it has always been clear that their presence is limited. We enjoyed being part of their lives between the months of May and November however following that, it was necessary that they fly the coup and join their own unkindness of ravens, replacing our human family with one of their own species.

All the newcomer ravens showed us their individual characters. As with us humans, one can meet both skilled, clumsy, bold and cowardly ravens. A few attributes were found in all however. Their cleverness, agility, swiftness, and quick adaptability shone through every single bird we had the honor to raise.

So take a minute and think about it: - If your company was a new to the market and you wanted to not only aggravate the larger, existing market share holders, but to also pinch a section of this market for yourself, what creature would you have chosen as a trademark logo?

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Literature

Die Seele der Raben (The Soul Of Ravens), Bernd Heinrich, Listverlag; ISBN 3471-77887-X
Rabenschwarze Intelligenz (Raven Black Intelligence), Josef H. Reichholf, Herbigverlag; ISBN 978-3-7766-2600-1
Mein Freund der große schwarze Vogel (My Friend, The Big Black Bird), Hans-J.Pauli, Verlag Börner PR; ISBN 3-930675-05-6
Der Kolkrabe,(The Common Rave) Gertrude Drack,(The Common Rave) Verlag Admiral; ISBN 80-900697-0-3
Die fidelen Rabentaler,(The Jolly Ravencoin) Gertrude Drack, Verlag Admiral; ISBN 80-900697-3-8
Rabenbande, Gertrude Drack, Verlag Denkmayr; ISBN 3-902488-30-1
Der Rabe, (Raven gang) Bodo W. Klös, Galerie und Edition Noir; ISBN 3-9805890-0-5
Der Rabe Kork,(The Raven Kork) Otto Boris, Martin Kettler Verlag 1974
Hans Huckebein, Wilhelm Busch, Unipartverlag GmbH; ISBN 3-8122-7901-1