The inventor Heinrich J. Küchenmeister (1893–1966) from Berlin developed the Ultraphon in the early 1920s as a device to play records.
As both needles ran at a fixed distance in the same groove, the effect was a gain in volume and a pseudo-stereo.
[1] Küchenmeister planned an international business group together with the Dutch businessman and engineer Andreas Struve (1882–1954) with divisions for recordings, broadcasting and film.
[2] It was merged with Deutsche Ultraphon in Berlin beginning of 1929, aiming at a national label in Germany.
Directed by Herbert Grenzebach [de], it produced a wide repertoire, with artists such as Marlene Dietrich, Joseph Schmidt and Erich Kleiber.