Alpina Aktiengesellschaft horticulture, landscaping, sports field construction
| Alpina AG
|
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | AG |
| founding | May 1, 1960 |
| Seat |
Stahnsdorf , Germany
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| management | Christian Jahnke, Jürgen Schrabbe |
| Number of employees | 175 |
| sales | 25 million euros |
| Branch | Gardening and landscaping |
| Website | www.alpina-ag.de |
| Status: 2019 | |
The Alpina AG (proper spelling alpina ag ) is a German company of the garden, landscape and sports field construction , based in Stahnsdorf , emerged from a Horticultural Production Cooperative (GPG) of the GDR .
history
While products such as wall paints or automobiles are associated with the company name Alpina in West Germany, for decades the name in the GDR stood for a national horticultural production cooperative - GPG Alpina . It survived the political change and has been operating as alpina ag since 1990 . In the 60th year of its existence it can look back on 30 years in the socialist and 30 years in the market economy system. The company's history can also serve as an example of successful corporate transformation across the political system change.
GPG Alpina 1960 - 1990
After 3 small horticultural businesses in Ludwigsfelde had initially merged to form a working group in 1953, a horticultural production cooperative was founded in 1960 on the basis of the law on agricultural production cooperatives. It was given the name "Alpina" and thought of an Alpinum , a small mound of earth with rock garden plants, but perhaps also of the inaccessible Alps. The naming differed from the establishment of party-affiliated cooperatives such as “Red October” or “Frohe Zukunft”. The headquarters of the cooperative administration was Kleinmachnow . The 104 employees active at the time of foundation were active in the areas of green space and horticulture. At that time, three quarters of the employees were working in green space construction (landscaping). In stationary greenhouses, mainly roses, carnations and chrysanthemums were cultivated. The landscape gardeners, on the other hand, traveled across the entire territory of the GDR with their caravans and construction vehicles.
The existing machine technology was listed in a commemorative publication for the 25th anniversary.
Small excerpt:
• 12 people transporters B1000-VW
• 7 cars Wartburg-Trabant-Dacia
• 18 bulldozers S 651
• 26 vibration plates
• 51 one-man chainsaw
• 5 emergency power generators
In the office, too, the development of technology and data processing was kept up. The Triumphator “Nuddel” hand calculator was still in use in 1985 (Fig. Above right, front), but also the KC 85/2 small computer from the Erfurt Microelectronics Combination with a storage capacity of 16 kByte. The large small data processing system DARO 1840 from the VEB Kombinat Robotron (picture below) only had a storage capacity of 8 kByte.
Georg Heinze, a long-time employee, reports vividly about the work in the GPG Alpina and the efforts of the cooperative to keep the party-political control by the SED within limits in his documentation about Kleinmachnow during the GDR era and the years of transition. Noteworthy is the report on the collective refusal of the GPG board in 1972 to be integrated into a state- owned company . The contemporary witness also provides an interesting insight into the working conditions of a site manager in the field of tension between professional standards and political influence.
GPG Alpina was the owner of various properties as early as the GDR era, some of which were brought in by the cooperative members and some through acquisition. Several properties near the Baltic Sea can still be used by employees as holiday apartments. The cooperative also demonstrated social activities outside of socialist obligations in nature and monument protection. She has earned merits in the preservation of historical buildings. This was achieved by taking over, rescuing and renovating the more than 600-year-old Bäkemühle in Kleinmachnow, which was threatened with blasting.
alpina ag 1990 - today
In 1989, with the political turnaround, the GDR's production cooperatives faced a difficult process of adapting to the market economy. With its focus on landscape gardening work that was not subject to any state planning or price specifications, the conversion was relatively unproblematic for the Alpina. After many discussions with auditors and at a memorable general meeting in December 1990, GPG Alpina was converted into a small stock corporation with registered shares with restricted transferability . The previous owners, who had brought their small nurseries and flower shops into GPG as comrades, were now shareholders of alpina ag . Even today, part of the business capital is in the hands of the founding families and their descendants. Increasingly, however, the share capital is being passed on to active employees who participate in the company's success in the form of dividends and who can influence the management of the company through the general meeting. In addition to employee equity participation, alpina ag has also maintained a system of profit-based profit- sharing since it was founded .
Locations and subsidiaries
The company is still mainly active in the new federal states and in Berlin, but has now also established itself outside of the traditional market with the Hamburg branch. Alpina ag currently has six branches in total: Rostock, Berlin, Potsdam / Ludwigsfelde, Cottbus, Halle and Hamburg / Rellingen. The number of employees corresponds to a medium-sized company in the industry. The organizational structures of a stock corporation with central commercial administration, bundling of procurement, personnel development, data processing and marketing relieve the operational branches of general administrative work and allow them to concentrate on the main business. The administration is based in Stahnsdorf.
The company and its branches are members of the Federal Association of Gardening, Landscaping and Sports Field Construction BGL through the respective regional associations . A subsidiary, Alpina Service GmbH, Stahnsdorf, deals exclusively with the maintenance of green spaces and is represented at four branch locations.
Altogether, the 60-year history of alpina can be viewed as a successful example of the transformation of a cooperative that was economically successful under the restrictions of the socialist system into an equally successful corporation in the market economy system.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Author collective (1986). The development from private horticulture to cooperative production. Festschrift for the 25th anniversary of GPG Alpina. Kleinmachnow: self-published.
- ^ Niesel, A. (2001). Alpina AG Kleinmachnow. Neue Landschaft, Issue 4/2001, pp. 252–258.
- ↑ Heinze, G. (2018). Kleinmachnow limited. The 1961–1990 border. 2nd Edition. Teltow: Buchkontor Teltow.
- ↑ Wendebourg, T. (2011). alpina AG in Stahnsdorf: 50 years of eventful history. DEGA GaLaBau, issue 1/2011, pp. 39–44.
- ↑ Ziegler, W. (2016): “Case Study Alpina AG, Stahnsdorf” in: Employee participation in construction operations - in decisions, in success, in capital. Pp. 36-37. Bochum: e-book series galabau.expert.