Products from Barock®

The history of Dresden Barock inks dates back to 1826, when the company August Leonhardi was founded. August Leonhardi became famous for his patented, legendary Alizarin inks. These were the first inks in the world that could be called document proof.
The story goes that in the 19th century, a mail ship sank on its way through the salt water of the Baltic Sea. The ship's cargo was recovered some time later. However, few of the documents that had been carried were still legible. An exception were the documents written in Aug. Leonhardi's inks. It was at this time that Aug. Leonhardi's alizarin inks became famous.
In the turmoil of the Second World War and with the wave of expropriations in the first communist years, Aug. Leonhardi also fell into the hands of the state. The company was incorporated into the GDR's largest computer manufacturer, VEB Kombinat Robotron, and was renamed VEB Bürochemie Dresden. Products such as stamping ink, fountain pen ink, blue paper, edible glue for handicrafts and many more were supplied throughout the Eastern Bloc under the name "BAROCK". Anyone who went to school in the last years of the GDR wrote with Barock inks.
With the wave of privatisation after 1989, the company went to investors in the free market and traded under the name Barock Bürobedarf GmbH. In 2011, the last owner was forced to file for bankruptcy.
The imposing BAROCK building is now used by the Barock Eventpark.

The development and production of inkjet inks, stamping inks and fountain pen inks has since been continued by Octopus Fluids GmbH & Co. KG.  In 2022, the rights to the Barock name were also transferred to Octopus. Now, new ink series under the well-known name "BAROCK" complement our range of Octopus fountain pen inks.