The Stahl bookstore and bookbindery

The date of establishment of the operating bookstore in the 19th-20th centuries Šilutė (former Šilokarčema), in building no. 5 on current Tilžės St.,  was indicated in the advertisement as 1840.  Rudolph Stahl and his family moved to this area around 1848 and bought the bookstore around 1860. The enterprise combined a bookstore and a bookbindery. The company expanded in 1875-1877, after  purchasing bookbinding equipment; and employed 2-3 people. Prints for binding were bought from Klaipėda, Tilze, and Konigsberg publishing and printing houses. The bookstore mainly sold stationery, textbooks, popular “Lithuanian Calendars” of Klaipėda and other calendars of Lithuania Minor, the Reformation history and Protestant literature; and published several books at its own expense. The company had its own pavilion at the annual famous Klaipėda summer fairs and announced about it in the newspapers of Lithuania Minor. The bound books were marked with advertising stickers with inscriptions in German and Lithuanian: “Gebunden bei A.R. Stahl in Szibben”, “Gebunden und zu haben bei R. Stahl, Heydekrug”, “Bound and available at R. Stahl Šilokarčemoj”.

From 1866, glued cards with the names of the future owners of the book on the inside of the quarters of the bound books appeared at customer’s request. These cards with personal names printed in Lithuanian are considered to be the predecessors of the Lithuanian ex-libris, and A. R. Stahl as its pioneer. Since 1881, the bookstore was managed by Adolf Friedrich Stahl, who expanded his activities, purchased a printing press and began promoting the company as a “book factory”. He established contacts with Otto von Mauderode’s printing house and Hermann Wilhelm Siebert’s publishing house “The Heir of Holz and Šernius”. He also expanded his trade: traded more in stationery, wallets, cigarette cases, wrapping and wall paper; and started apprenticeship of bookbinders.

In 1908, Marija Solors, the widow of A. Stahl, married to master bookbinder Heinrich Solors, became the owner of the company “Adolf Stahl”. As the demand for Protestant literature decreased, more secular prints, stationery, haberdashery, jewelry and perfumery were sold; and many postcards related to Lithuania were published. The company maintained relations with the organizations of the Lithuanian National Movement of Lithuania Minor in Tilse: “Birutė” and “Spauda”; distributed their publications and event tickets. In 1924, a new trading company “Adolfas Stahlis ir Co” was founded, which was closed in 1930 due to financial difficulties, and the building and other property were sold at auction in 1931. The grave of the Stahl family is in the Šilute Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery.