Nick Müller wrote:
Christopher Tidy wrote:


and one of those Cold War era lamps I was talking about.


"cold war era"? Huh! It's an old lamp from the former DDR. That's it.
Nothing military-related.

When I said "Cold War era" I just meant something that was made in
Eastern Europe sometime between 1960 and 1980. I didn't mean anything
military-related. Maybe I'm using the phrase incorrectly, but I'm not a
military historian.

Has anyone seen a lamp like this before?


Not too uncommon. The only difference is the cast housing. But ...


and also carries the letters "Ex" and "Sch", both inside circles.


It means "Explosion" = explosion and "Schutz" = protection.
"Ex"-stuff is used mostly in mines and means that it won't spark when
switched on/off. I guess that the "Sch" means here, that it is water
tight (spray water). I would say that they used it because of it's
rudgedized design.

That's interesting to know the meaning of the "Ex" and "Sch" marks. I
read online that those triangular-headed bolts are often used on
equipment designed for explosive environments, but so far I can't find
anywhere that sells the right spanner (M6 I think it is). Might see if I
can get one of those electricity meter box keys. Looking closely it also
says "geprueft" between the "Ex" and "Sch" marks. Does that roughly mean
"proven" or "tested" in translation?

Thanks for the information,

Chris