Accumulator factory Sonnenschein
| Accumulator factory Sonnenschein
|
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1910 |
| Seat | Berlin and Büdingen |
| Branch | Manufacturing |
The Accumulatorenfabrik Sonnenschein GmbH was an independent lead-acid battery manufacturer until it was sold to the French-Italian battery group CEAC, Clichy , in 1992. After the CEAC group was taken over by the American lead battery group Exide Technologies in 1996 , the latter merged the Accumulatorenfabrik Sonnenschein GmbH into the Deutsche Exide GmbH in 2000.
history
founding
Theodor Sonnenschein, a student of Max Planck , founded the company in 1910 in Berlin. Sonnenschein had already manufactured accumulators during his studies. After the Allgemeine Berliner Omnibus AG placed a large order, the basis for the company was created.
Further development
In 1918, Clemens Jonen, Sonnenschein's brother-in-law, joined the company and took over the Sonnenschein accumulator factory entirely in 1926. Clemens Jonen died in 1957 and the next generation took over the company in the form of Marie-Luise Schwarz-Schilling (née Jonen) and her husband Christian Schwarz-Schilling . At the beginning of the 1990s the company ran into economic difficulties and in 1992 was sold to the lead battery group CEAC from France, which continued to run the Accumulatorenfabrik Sonnenschein as an independent GmbH. After the CEAC was taken over by the American Exide Technologies in 1996 , the Sonnenschein GmbH merged into the Deutsche Exide GmbH.
The trademark
On the occasion of the radio exhibition in 1927, the wife of Clemens Jonen, Edita, drew the trademark, the half sun, which since then has graced the batteries and publications in versions slightly adapted to the respective epoch. The trademark is still used today by the lead battery company Exide Technologies for lead-gel accumulators .
Production facilities
Berlin
Up until 1936 production was carried out in Alt-Moabit 104, when it got too tight and in 1936 the company moved to Huttenstraße 63-64. As the demand for accumulators continued to rise, in 1938 the company moved to a new plant at Fritz-Werner-Strasse 68 in Berlin-Mariendorf , near the Daimler engine plant . On the associated factory premises at Untertürkheimer Str. 22-26, there was a camp with three barracks for 40 to 80 Soviet forced laborers . 2/3 of the plant was destroyed by bombs in 1945. After the war, the plant is put back into operation. In 1995 it was closed after the production of car starter batteries in Berlin was no longer economical.
Leipa (Bohemia)
In the last years of the war, part of the production is relocated to a branch in Leipa. After the end of the war, this branch is lost.
Büdingen
In 1946 the Büdingen plant was founded due to the isolated location of Berlin.
Pastures
In 1987 the new factory in Weiden went into operation, which produced industrial battery cells and thus significantly relieved the workload in Berlin. In 2000 the plant was closed because the products could be produced at the Bad Lauterberg group plant of Deutsche Exide GmbH at significantly lower prices.
Portugal and Nigeria
In the 1980s, Sonnenschein built overseas manufacturing facilities in Porto Alto, Portugal and Nigeria . Both factories were later sold.
innovation
After Otto Jache, who was employed by Sonnenschein, tried to fix the liquid sulfuric acid by means of so-called gel formers shortly after the war, the breakthrough came in 1957. Sonnenschein applied for a patent for the lead gel technology , which was granted in 1958 and the company had a golden one Years. It is marketed worldwide under the brand name "dryfit".
Market position
From the beginning, Sonnenschein built similar accumulators like the traditional main competitors in Germany and thus became number 4 in Germany. The first specialization took place in the 1950s, when Sonnenschein became the global market leader for motorcycle starter batteries. However, Sonnenschein subsequently lost this position to Korean competitors and only regained a strong position on the world market thanks to dryfit technology.
Employee
The development in the number of employees is typical for the 20th century. In 1926 there are 5 workers and 1 employee. In 1940 there are 228 employees (195 + 33). Then the peak in 1943 was 338 employees and dropped again to 163 by 1950. During the time of the economic miracle , the number of employees rose continuously to 994 in 1969. In the 1980s, Sonnenschein employed up to 1,100 people. In the 1990s the number sank again below 1000 and remained continuously below the limit of 1000 until 2000.
literature
- Sunshine: Sunshine 1910–1970 . Brochure, Büdingen 1970. DNB 969576870
- Sunshine: Accumulator factory Weiden . Büdingen 1988.
- Hartmut Steiner: The Sunshine Case - An Unprecedented Campaign . Mainz 1988.
Individual evidence
- ^ Camp and accommodation for foreigners in Berlin-Tempelhof during World War II. A first compilation. (As of spring 2001)
Coordinates: 52 ° 25 ′ 41.7 ″ N , 13 ° 22 ′ 55.2 ″ E