Porcelain, bakelite, fabric cord

Switches thatgrow old withthe house.

Rotary switches, sockets and lamp holders in porcelain and bakelite from Münsterland in Germany. For old houses, renovations and anyone who wants the wall to look right.

View the lines All THPG products

Lüdinghausen: THPG headquarters in Münsterland
Audbrekka: Rafport's warehouse in Kopavogur

Black Bakelite rotary switch on a light wall by a wooden door frame — A house from 1955 in Datteln, restored to its original state

IAbout THPG

When an old house is renovated the details matter. A switch in porcelain, a cord clad in fabric and a lamp holder that withstands the heat: materials that were used before and still last.

THPG, Thomas Hoof Produktgesellschaft, designs switches and lights in Lüdinghausen and has them made mostly in Germany. Wherever possible the switches are screwed together rather than glued, so they can be taken apart and repaired.

6: lines of switches and sockets
120+: types of switches, sockets and frames
1400 °C: firing temperature of the porcelain

IIThe materials

Three materials, no fashion.

THPG chooses materials that have proven themselves in electrical work for more than a century, because they work and age well.

Porcelain

Fired at about 1400 degrees Celsius. Does not yellow, barely scratches and insulates well. Glazed, white or black, and just as handsome after decades on the wall.

Porcelain in the catalogue

Bakelite

Heavy, dark and heat resistant. The material that gave switches and radios of the early 20th century their look. THPG only calls material from Bakelite GmbH bakelite.

Bakelite in the catalogue

iii

Fabric cord

A cord clad in woven fabric, for lights and wiring that are allowed to show. Fixed to the wall with fittings in the same style.

IIISwitches and sockets

Six lines, one form.

Round frames, rotary switches and rocker switches. Recessed in porcelain, bakelite or white duroplast, or surface mounted on the wall.

Hallway clad in red painted wood, two black Bakelite switches one above the other by the door — Dübener HeideA storage house from the 1970s, converted into a holiday flat with the black bakelite line.Photo: Till Schuster

IVHouses with a story

In the right place in the right house.

Old walls, beams and tiles call for switches that match. THPG switches are chosen for listed houses, renovated kitchens and apartments that are meant to keep their character, but they are just as at home in a new build.

Photos from projects THPG has published.

Bedroom with a dark blue wall and three black Bakelite switches — Hansaviertel, BerlinAn apartment in Oscar Niemeyer's building, with the bakelite line.Photo: Hanns Joosten

White tiles, an old water heater and a black Bakelite socket — DattelnA house from 1955, brought back to its original state.

Concrete kitchen counter with gas burners and four black switches and sockets in a row — Bischofsheim, Hessen

Surface mounted THPG pull switch taken apart: porcelain core, screws and black Bakelite housing — Taken apart: screws, no glue.

VSurface mounted

On the wall, and allowed to show.

When it is not allowed, or not worth it, to chase wiring into the wall: in listed houses, summer houses, basements and outbuildings. Surface mounted switches and sockets with fabric cord between them, fixed with fittings in the same style. The black line also has IP44 switches and sockets for damper spots.

VIFrom the catalogue