Walter Steinhart was born on September 5, 1880 in Weiden in der Oberpfalz, his wife Rosa, née Steinhart, on June 17, 1885 in Tachau/Eger in western Böhmen, now Tachov in the Czech Republic. Rosa Steinhart was the sister of Ida Fränkel, née Steinhart.

The Steinhart department store was located on the corner of Kesselsdorfer Straße and Poststraße in the Löbtau district of Dresden.

About 1906, Richard Steinhart (*26.5.1873) opened a shop for fashion accessories, which later developed into a department store. It offered everything for the modern household. The catchy advertising slogan: "As hard as stone" tells you: "Your department store must be as hard as stone." The sons Kurt and Werner took over the flourishing business from their father.

The brothers Johannes and Friedrich Cruse founded the "Spezialfabrik elektrischer Steuerapparate Gebr. Cruse & Co.“ in 1914 and received the corresponding license with trade license no. 1551 dated 15 November 1914. From 1916, their company headquarters were located at Wachsbleichstrasse 26/28 in Dresden-Friedrichstadt, which they and their 80 employees initially had to share with Arnhold and Petzoldt (safe manufacturing) and later with Maschinenfabrik Kreiselrad and Blumenfabrik Oscar Alexander & Co.

Olga Kussi, née Langner, Nelly Steinberg, née Kussi, Dr. Viktor Kussi, Dr. Werner Franz Kussi, Stefan Manfred Steinberg and Franz Egon Steinberg lived here.

In August 1911, Edmund Kussi (born on March 24, 1866 in Žihle near Pilsen) and his brothers Johann and Friedrich Cruse founded the company ‚RHEOSTAT – Spezialfabrik elektrischer Apparate Edmund Kussi‘. The company headquarters were located at Freiberger Straße 75. Edmund Kussi was also the owner of a dust extraction machine business at Waisenhausstraße 24. In September 1913, they moved the company headquarters to Leipziger Straße 31 in Dresden-Neustadt (site of the former Dresdener Maschinenfabrik & Schiffswerft AG).

In Adolph Lehmann's allgemeiner Wohnungs-Anzeiger : nebst Handels- u. Gewerbe-Adressbuch für d. k.k. Reichshaupt- u. Residenzstadt from 1923 contains the following entry: Berson Kautschuk-Gesllschaft m.b.H., distribution of rubber goods with the word mark "Berson", (also English, Italian, Croatian, Polish, Slovenian, Czech, French and Hungarian) VII Zieglergasse 6, capital stock 3,000,000 K, managing directors Julius and Robert Beer, drawing coll.

The roots of the haberdashery business I.