| Type | Family owned |
|---|---|
| Industry | Graphic Arts Equipment |
| Founded | St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, 1919 |
| Founder(s) | John Brandtjen, Henry Brandtjen Sr., Abel Kluge, and Eneval Kluge |
| Headquarters | St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, United States |
| Key people | Henry Brandtjen, Jr. |
| Website | http://www.kluge.biz/ |
Brandtjen and Kluge is manufacturer of both platen and web foil stamping, embossing & diecutting presses, and folder-gluers. They also distribute blanking systems & cutters. Together John and Henry Brandtjen and the Kluge brothers developed the world's first successful automatic feeder for open platen (Gordon) printing presses (such as those manufactured by Chandler & Price), and in November of 1919, Brandtjen & Kluge was formed in St. Paul, Minnesota to manufacture and sell the feeder. It supposedly had a Rube Goldberg machine reputation, and was "temperamental, subject to frequent breakdowns, and devilishly difficult to repair — but oh, so clever!" This may be the origin of the word kludge, meaning a quick-and-dirty solution, inelegant, yet effective, solution to a problem.