Junkers & Co.

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Junkers & Co.

logo
legal form GmbH
founding July 2, 1895
resolution November 4, 1932
Reason for dissolution Takeover by Robert Bosch GmbH , today Bosch Thermotechnik
Seat Dessau
Branch Thermotechnology
Website junkers.com

The company Junkers & Co. Warmwasser-Apparatefabrik was founded in 1895 by Hugo Junkers in Dessau . Junkers gas appliances such as bath stoves, heaters and other inventions by the founder were produced in the company. Today the Junkers brand belongs to the Bosch Thermotechnology division of the Bosch Group.

History of Junkers Thermotechnik

First years

The calorimeter for which Hugo Junkers applied for a patent in 1892 , a measuring device for determining the calorific value of gases, was the starting point for all other thermal engineering devices that he developed and manufactured. These include gas water heaters and gas heating stoves.

In 1894 Hugo Junkers constructed a "liquid heater" based on the calorimeter principle. In his patent application for “liquid heaters”, Junkers already described the operating system for condensing technology. The patent, issued January 16, 1896, was granted with effect from June 20, 1894.

As a partner in the “test station for gas engines from Oechelhaeuser and Junkers”, Junkers had hired the talented plumber Otto Knick on June 30, 1892, who in 1895 induced him to build the gas bath heater himself and not limit himself to granting licenses as Junkers had initially intended.

On July 2nd, 1895, Hugo Junkers and Robert Ludwig founded the company "Junkers & Co." in Dessau (Ludwig left the company in 1897 and Junkers was the sole owner of Junkers & Co. afterwards). Junkers' first floor-standing gas bath heater was made in 1895 built. The hot gas column in the combustion chamber created a powerful lift that sucked in the necessary combustion air. This ensured that the gas bath heater could be operated independently of the chimney draft.

In 1896 the newly founded company moved into its first own factory in Dessauer Albrechtstraße. Operations manager Knick lived on the ground floor with his family. Also in 1896, Junkers brought out the first wall-hung bath heater, nationally and internationally. With this product innovation, it was possible to reduce the sales price compared to floor-standing devices and at the same time save space.

In 1897 Junkers built his first gas heater for the mausoleum of the ducal family in Dessau. Also in 1897 Junkers became professor at the Technical University of Aachen. Since then he has used his title of professor to market his products. In the following years Junkers expanded the gas heating product range. Before the First World War, the program consisted of “low pressure steam heating systems”, “hot air ovens”, “gas heating ovens” and “gas heating inserts” for chimneys and radiators.

In addition to the floor-standing and wall-mounted "gas bath stoves" and "rapid water heaters" that were already manufactured in the 1890s, Junkers & Co. also launched a "special storage machine" for hairdressing salons in 1900. From 1903 this line of devices, in which the contents of the hot water tank was constantly kept at a certain temperature, was greatly expanded.

Ten years after moving into their first own factory building in Dessau, Junkers & Co. moved into a newly built, much larger factory in 1906, which at the same time meant turning away from the previous artisanal production method and the basis for a significant increase in production.

Since 1908 Junkers has been producing the "electricity machine". While the "hot water supply centers" came into question for buildings with a large demand for hot water such as hotels, the new devices for several draw-off points without hot water were mainly used in single-family houses and apartments. As soon as a tap was opened and water flowed through the apparatus, the gas valve was opened by the water pressure so that gas could flow to the burner. When the tap was turned off, the gas valve closed automatically and the burner flames went out.

On December 16, 1911, the 100,000th Junkers gas appliance was manufactured. In the same year the company already had 220 employees. In addition, a number of suppliers, which were mainly based in the Dessau area, worked for Junkers & Co. In the years before the First World War, Junkers was also producing gas hot water boilers, which could be used instead of coke boilers for both central hot water supply systems and central heating systems.

While the first bath stoves were still quite expensive at 75 marks , the price could be reduced to 37 marks by 1914 due to the higher number of units, making it affordable for a large number of people. The Junker thermal baths were the epitome of comfort and were retrofitted in many households or built into new buildings.

First World War and Weimar Republic

During the First World War , civil production at Junkers & Co. largely came to a standstill. At the end of 1915, Junkers' bath stove factory in Dessau, who had previously been completely unfamiliar with aviation, was the first all-metal aircraft in the world , the Junkers J 1 . In addition to military aircraft, field kitchens in particular were built here for the army during the war.

In mid-1918 Junkers & Co. moved into a new gas equipment plant in today's Junkersstrasse in Dessau, as the previous plant had been converted into an aircraft factory during the First World War. The new factory was greatly enlarged by the end of the 1920s and was given a modern administration building in 1928. The "Research Institute Prof. Junkers" was also located here. The first electrically heated water heaters, which came onto the market in 1924, represented a significant expansion of the Junkers production program. In addition, the product range of gas appliances was expanded considerably in the 1920s.

The corporate strategy of offering inexpensive, energy-efficient and high-quality products also paid off in the 1920s. Between 1920 and 1929, annual sales rose from 14,000 to 99,000 gas appliances. On October 12, 1927 Junkers & Co. gave the 500,000. Gas appliance manufactured.

A nationally and internationally groundbreaking new design was the NEA 38 hot water electric machine, which Junkers brought out in 1928. A characteristic feature of this new device was the accessibility of the inner body without removing the exhaust pipe. This requirement was first made by Junkers and met with the NEA 38. This device was characterized in particular by the accessibility of all parts during operation through angled separation of the housing and removable front wall. The NEA 38 enabled easy cleaning and function control as well as easy installation and removal of the fittings, the burner and the inner body. The housing was enamelled outside and inside and therefore easy to clean.

Together with UFA , Hugo Junkers, who under the advertising slogan “Hot Water Everywhere” had contributed a lot to improving hygiene nationally and internationally, had a film made about the cultural history of bathing in 1928, which was named “Jungborn of Mankind”.

A high point of the cooperation with the Bauhaus , which moved from Weimar to Dessau in 1925 and was equipped with heating technology from Junkers here as well as at the previous location ( Haus am Horn ) (including the “ Masters' Houses ” built according to plans by Walter Gropius today Ebertallee), presented the large exhibition "Gas and Water" in 1929, which took place under the Berlin radio tower. Junkers & Co.'s 50-meter-long exhibition stand was designed with the involvement of all Bauhaus workshops.

Despite the global economic crisis , which was already clearly emerging , 1929 was still a successful year for the Junkers Group. The individual companies achieved a total turnover of 35 million Reichsmarks, with a total workforce of approx. 5,000 men. Junkers & Co, traditionally the most profitable branch of the group, accounted for around a third of total sales. Hugo Junkers was not only the most important employer in Dessau, but also the largest German aircraft manufacturer.

At the beginning of March 1930, Junkers Motorenbau GmbH had to ask its creditors to defer payments. Two years later, on March 22, 1932, Hugo Junkers was forced to file for bankruptcy for his entire group of companies . In order to successfully counteract a disempowerment of his person planned by influential circles from the financial world and politics in the context of the insolvency proceedings, Hugo Junkers decided to sell his Junkers & Co. GmbH (converted into a GmbH in 1932) to the then Robert Bosch AG with a purchase contract dated November 4, 1932. At this time, Bosch was already active in the gas appliance market with ignition-proof gas switches. With the sales proceeds of 2.6 million Reichsmarks (previously the possible sales value had been estimated at only 500,000 Reichsmarks), Hugo Junkers was able to significantly improve his negotiating position at the decisive creditors' meeting on November 8, 1932 and the unlimited entrepreneurial control over his other parts of the company initially received back.

time of the nationalsocialism

After Adolf Hitler came to power , Hugo Junkers had to surrender the majority of his aircraft and engine factories under massive pressure from the National Socialist rulers - in 1923 he had refused the employment of the former aviation officer Hermann Göring - and was no longer allowed to enter Dessau. On February 3, 1935, his 76th birthday, Hugo Junkers died in Gauting near Munich .

During the Nazi era , Bosch continued to run Junkers & Co. GmbH. After the takeover, it was essential for the gas appliance factory that more efficient production was set up according to Bosch standards. From 1933 to 1938, gas appliance sales rose from 63,000 to 136,000, with sales reaching the pre-war record of 168,000 in 1937. In addition to the state subsidy programs for residential construction in Germany, this increase in sales was also due to Bosch's extensive international relationships, so that the export share rose significantly in the pre-war period. Before the Second World War, Junkers gas appliances were exported to almost every country in Europe, the USA, South Africa and Australia.

The product innovations that Junkers & Co. GmbH brought onto the market in the pre-war years included improved ignition-safe gas switches (Bosch had combined production in Dessau in 1934), a coal bath heater with a steel jacket, a new gas central heating boiler and a heat selector for Water heater to ensure a largely constant outlet temperature regardless of the respective gas and water pressure.

Bosch's foreign business partners gave a loan of £ 120,000 in 1933, and in the years that followed , a gas appliance factory was built in Neasden near London on land that had previously been acquired for the construction of a British Bosch factory. This was under the direction of managers from Bosch and Junkers. Even after the sale of the shares in Ascot Gas Water Heaters Ltd. in 1936 the close business ties between Junkers and Ascot initially remained.

With the purchase of the Dessau company of Askania -Werke AG in Berlin in 1937 - located in the gas district at Wörlitz train station - Junkers & Co. GmbH expanded its range of gas appliances to include stoves, stoves, ovens, irons and steam boilers. The manufacture of Askania products was given up one year later and replaced by joint product lines. Before the Second World War, the Junkers brand held a leading position in the market for gas heating and cooking appliances in Germany.

During the Second World War , Junkers & Co. GmbH mainly had to manufacture armaments as part of the German war economy. The production of gas appliances fell to just 18,500 units by 1943. The number of employees had risen from 500 to 3,200 between 1932 and 1942. In the course of the war, foreign civil and forced laborers were increasingly employed. According to a personnel list that was made in the period after the Second World War, a total of 909 "foreign workers" were employed by 1945.

At the instigation of the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production , large parts of Junkers & Co. GmbH's production were relocated to the Asch- Rossbach area of ​​what was then Reichsgau Sudetenland . Around 2,000 employees were employed in the relocation companies there. In the British air raid on Dessau on March 7, 1945, 90 percent of the gas equipment plant in Junkersstrasse, which had been in existence since 1918, was destroyed.

Post-war development

Gas central heating devices and control and safety devices for gas devices have been manufactured since the 1950s. Among other things, the manufacturer introduced the piezo-electric ignition of gas appliances, and Bosch was the first company to produce boiler heaters with continuous control and automatic ignition.

In 1992 Bosch / Junkers acquired the majority in Worcester Group plc, the English market leader in heating systems, and Radson Belgium / Netherlands . They have been cooperating with De Dietrich / France since 1993 . Majorities in elm leblanc , the French market leader in heating systems, and Geminox, a pioneer in condensing technology, were also acquired.

Bosch took over the Buderus Group in 2003 , merged Buderus Heiztechnik with its own, smaller activities under the name Bosch-Buderus Thermotechnik , or BBT for short , and thus became the market leader in Europe. The company has been called Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH since 2008 and continues to produce branded devices under the name Junkers , which it also sells.

See also

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Junkers - Bosch Group Part of Bosch. Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH, accessed on May 15, 2010 .
  2. ↑ Brands. Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH, accessed on August 7, 2013 .