Gustav Schmalbach

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gustav Schmalbach , born as Wilhelm Karl August Otto Gustav Schmalbauch , (* February 12, 1880 in Braunschweig ; † August 17, 1931 there ) was a German entrepreneur . From 1904 , together with his brother Willi , he continued the JA Schmalbach company founded by their father Andreas Schmalbauch in Braunschweig in 1898 .

Life

Gustav was the youngest of the three children of the married couple Andreas Schmalbauch and Johanne Schmalbauch nee. Best († 1923). Willi was born as older siblings in 1875 and Emma in 1877. After attending school, Gustav did his military service and then joined his father's company to do an apprenticeship there. After brother Willi had been called back to the company by his father in 1899, both brothers worked in a division of labor, Willi took over the commercial management, Gustav the technical production management.

Andreas Schmalbauch died after a short illness in early 1904 at the age of 53. The two sons then took over the overall management of the company, which manufactured food cans on a large scale during the First World War . In order to stop being solely dependent on seasonal agricultural products, new buyers were sought for the cans, which were eventually found in the meat and fish industries . As a result, the company continued to grow nationwide.

Gustav was drafted at the beginning of the First World War. He continued to work in the company while on leave from the front. After the end of the war, Gustav, who, like his father and brother, was known for his innovation- friendliness, tried to introduce new production techniques for further automation and mechanization of can production and also experimented with the use of plastics .

Together with his brother Gustav was the head of the OHG until 1927 , then the sole shareholder and managing director of the GmbH . At the same time he was on the board of Union Blechwarenwerke , a holding company founded by him and other entrepreneurs from Braunschweig and the surrounding area . In addition, he sat on the supervisory boards of several Braunschweig companies, such as the Panther Fahrradwerke and the Feldschlößchen-Streitberg brewery .

On October 20, 1904, Gustav Schmalbauch married Elli Roever, with whom he had six children.

Factory building on Hamburger Strasse with the lettering "JA Schmalbach"

Name change

Company founder Andreas Schmalbauch was of the opinion early on that his family name was not conducive to the success of a company in the food industry and therefore applied for it to be changed to "Schmalbach". However, this did not take place until May 9, 1913, nine years after his death, so that only the descendants could call themselves “Schmalbach”. The company was also renamed.

Willi Schmalbach died on June 22, 1929, so that Gustav Schmalbach initially had to take over the overall management of the company on his own. He died of a heart attack almost two years later on August 17, 1931 at the age of 51. The new managing director was Herbert Munte (1899–1961), a son-in-law of Willi Schmalbach, who had been running the company with Gustav Schmalbach since 1930.

Honor

  • In honor of the Schmalbach family, the "Schmalbachstrasse" in the north of Braunschweig was named.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Wilhelm Geßner: Johann Andreas Schmalbauch 1851–1904, Willi Schmalbach 1875–1929, Gustav Schmalbach 1880–1931, Herbert Munte 1899–1961.
  2. ^ A b c Gudrun Fiedler: Wilhelm Karl August Otto Gustav Schmalbach. In: Jarck, Scheel (Hrsg.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon. 19th and 20th centuries.
personal data
SURNAME Schmalbach, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmalbauch, Wilhelm Karl August Otto Gustav (birth name); Schmalbach, Wilhelm Karl August Otto Gustav (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH August 17, 1931
Place of death Braunschweig