Otto Müller

In 1931, working closely with students and researchers at the Lichttechnisches Institut of the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe, Müller developed the Sistrah lamp. The name Sistrah was drawn from the German phrase "sie strahlt hell" (it shines brightly). The design aimed at a single goal: maximum brightness combined with complete freedom from glare, achieved through a five-part mouth-blown glass assembly using crystal clear, opal, and satin crystal glass in combination. The Sistrah principle was patented in Germany and across several European countries. Internationally, the same products were sold under the export brand name Megaphos.

Müller's designs have been described as the German counterpart to the PH system - sharing the same underlying logic of shielding the bulb from direct view while directing light downward with precision. The stepped single-piece glass shade also made the lamps far easier to clean than contemporary metal shades. Sistrah Licht GmbH, a subsidiary of Müller's company Müller and Zimmer, handled distribution from 1934 onward. The range extended well beyond domestic use: Sistrah luminaires were specified for offices, restaurants, lecture halls, medical practices, dental surgeries, factories, and street lighting.

On the Auctionist platform, Müller's work appears almost exclusively as the Sistrah pendant lamp in its various models (P3, P3.5, P5) and the Megaphos desk lamp variant from the 1930s. The 14 items catalogued have sold at auction houses including Bukowskis Malmö, Falun Auktionsbyrå, and Crafoord Auktioner, with the highest recorded result reaching 6,500 SEK for a Sistrah pendant. The items are classified primarily under Lighting and Ceiling Lights, reflecting the narrow but consistent collector interest in his Bauhaus-era glass lamp designs.