Odd duck

[foots]

  I came across pictures of this phone a couple of days ago. Is anybody familiar with these? It looks like a Stromberg Carlson's European cousin or something.

[bingster]

I can't help you with an identification, but it sure is a beaut of a phone.  It's like a little work of sculptural art.

[rdelius]

Because of the German style handset and dial I believe it is from Austria.
Robby

[GG]

Bulgaria. 

The Eastern European countries during the Soviet period, used the same or very similar dial and handset designs as those produced by German manufacturers.  There are also 1970s Soviet phones in which the dial mechanism is copied from Austria.  It's possible that the Eastern European manufacturers licensed the designs, but I think more likely that they just went ahead and produced them without paying royalties. 

One thing to watch out for:  Eastern European equipment most often shows up with cracks or chips or other damage.  In part this was due to compromises in manufacturing quality, and in part because phones in Eastern Europe were generally subject to longer and harder usage than in Western Europe.  In general and with a few exceptions, I would suggest treating any Eastern European telephones as inherently fragile compared to equivalent models produced elsewhere.  (However, RWT/Elektrim from Poland seems to be about as robust as anything produced in Germany.)

While we're on the subject....

RWT/Elektrim phones (Poland) were exported to the US and elsewhere in the 70s, as were Tesla phones (Czechoslovakia), so these may show up with USA alphanumeric dial markings, and with 4-prong or even modular plugs.  Some Chinese dial phones from that era and the early 80s were also exported to the US and have US dial markings and modular cords/plugs.  So if you see foreign-looking phones with US dial markings, these may be what you're looking at.