Anchor works

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Anchor works

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1876 ​​(as the Carl Schmidt sewing machine factory in Bielefeld )
resolution 1976
Seat Bielefeld , Germany
Number of employees last 8000
Branch Sewing machines , cash registers , accounting machines , small motorcycles and bicycles

The Anker-Werke AG was a German manufacturer of sewing machines , cash registers , accounting machines , small motorcycles and bicycles , located in the East Westphalian city of Bielefeld . Founded in 1876 as the Carl Schmidt sewing machine factory in Bielefeld, the company was soon renamed Anker Werke. After the Second World War , reconstruction began in 1948, with the factories concentrating on office machines and cash register production. The bicycle and motorcycle production was outsourced. In 1976, the Anker-Werke AG filed for bankruptcy and was bought by the British manufacturer Thomas Tilling. After various takeovers, most recently by the software giant Oracle in 2014, the original Anker division has been privately owned and an independent manufacturer again since 2015.

history

Carl Schmidt, co-founder and co-owner of the sewing machine factory " Dürkopp & Co " since 1867 , founded the company "Bielefelder sewing machine factory Carl Schmidt" in 1876. He took on Hugo Hengstenberg as a partner in July 1878. Now the company was called "Bielefeld sewing machine factory Carl Schmidt & Hengstenberg". In 1883 Carl Schmidt left due to a lost lawsuit, in 1884 Robert Wittenstein came in for it. The company was re-established under the name "Bielefelder Sewing Machine Factory Hengstenberg & Co.", since it had expired on February 1, 1884. In the middle of 1895 the transformation into a stock corporation with the name "Bielefelder sewing machines and bicycle factory AG" took place. Hengstenberg & Co. ”. From 1906 the company was called "Anker-Werke AG vorm. Hengstenberg & Co. ”, which went hand in hand with a capital increase. This was the first time the name Anker appeared. The company's trademark, the anchor , became an integral part of the name. The number of employees more than doubled between 1920 and 1938. During this time, Anker was also Europe's largest manufacturer of bicycles and office machines. After the Second World War, the company was rebuilt in 1948 at the old location in Bielefeld. The main fields of business were the mechanical cash registers built from 1900 and the booking machines built from 1912. The resumed production of bicycles and motorcycles was initially outsourced to Paderborn. In 1957 the production of sewing machines was also outsourced and the subsidiary Anker Sewing Machines AG was founded. A year later, the merger with the Bielefeld company Phoenix Sewing Machines AG Baer & Rempel to form Anker-Phoenix Sewing Machines AG, with the Anker-Werke holding the majority of the shares. In 1966 this new company was converted into a GmbH. In the 1970s, the switch from mechanical cash registers to computer-aided systems did not succeed, so that Anker, although the second largest manufacturer in the world, went bankrupt in 1976.

Remnants of the company were sold out of bankruptcy and were bought by the British manufacturer Thomas Tilling. In 2006 the IT provider Torex Retail Holdings Limited took over the last remaining part of Anker, Anker Systems GmbH in Bielefeld. In mid-2012, Torex Retail Holdings became Micros Systems . Micros Systems, in turn, was taken over by Oracle in summer 2014.

In the summer of 2015, Anker was successfully separated from the Oracle Group with the help of German private investors and is now an independent manufacturer of cash register systems.

production

Anker-Werke bicycle
Cash register, 1920s (formerly: Vorderkaiserfeldenhütte ; today: Alpine Museum Munich )

At first there was a specialization in sewing machines for shoemakers, later in long and swing boat sewing machines. Bicycles were built from 1894 and sold under the brand name Anker from the start. Around 1900 the property rights to build a cash register were bought, laying the foundations for a successful new branch of production, which was expanded to include the production of accounting machines in 1912.

In 1902 the first hesitant attempts to build a lightweight motorcycle began. In a chassis a 1.75 was PS strong Fafnir -Motor installed, the Aachener Stahlwarenfabrik provided. However, motorcycle construction was nowhere near as profitable as sewing machine and cash register construction, which is why production was quickly abandoned.

It wasn't until 1930 that motorcycles were built again. In a reinforced bicycle frame, a 74-cm³- was Sachs - two-stroke engine with 1.25 PS installed. In the following years Sachs improved the engine and increased the displacement to 98 cm³ with 2.25 hp. Anker improved the front suspension with the installation of the Tiger fork and replaced the rim brake with a wheel hub brake in the front wheel. From 1937 the “ Saxonette ” was offered with a newly developed 60 cm³ Sachs rear wheel hub motor. In 1956, Anker manufactured the first electromechanical accounting machine. The production of sewing machines was stopped in Bielefeld in 1969 and the Anker sewing machines AG was sold.

After the Second World War

With the outbreak of the Second World War , the production of civil goods ceased, but as early as 1945 bicycles were being made again.

In 1949 the subsidiary "PAMAG - Paderborner Maschinenbau AG" was founded on the site of the former Paderborn air base and the production of motorcycles, which had been idle up until then, was resumed.

First the proven motorcycles were built. The “Anker 660” with a 98 Fichtel & Sachs engine, the more powerful “Anker 661” with a 123 cm³ ILO engine. The "Anker 662" had the further developed Fichtel & Sachs engine with now 3 HP and was later also given a telescopic fork instead of the trapezoidal spring fork .

The “Anker 665” had the 147 cc Sachs engine with 6.5 hp, from 1952 the “Anker 666” with a 175 engine from ILO or Fichtel & Sachs. The most powerful machine was the “AS 200” the 11 hp ILO engine.

Economic problems forced Anker to dissolve PAMAG in 1953 and hand over the two-wheeler production to Panther-Werke AG in Braunschweig.

In 1976, the Anker-Werke AG filed for bankruptcy.

Successor company

Current logo of ANKER Kassensysteme GmbH in Bielefeld

Out of bankruptcy, the company was bought in 1976 by the British manufacturer Thomas Tilling, who in turn was bought by BTR in 1983. BTR sold it again in 1995. In 1996, Anker acquired GPI and was restructured and henceforth traded under the name of Anker BV (Netherlands), but kept its headquarters in Great Britain. In 1999, Anker acquired OMRON and Riva Group PLC.

In Germany, the subsidiary Anker Systems GmbH (Bielefeld), which had been founded as a rescue company from bankruptcy, was acquired by the British company Torex Retail PLC in 2006 and belonged together with Torex Retail Solutions GmbH, Berlin and Torex Retail Workforce Management Solutions GmbH , Ritterhude to Torex Retail Germany.

In 2007 the entire group was taken over by the financial investor Cerberus Capital Management by the newly founded "Torex Retail Holdings Limited". The takeover by Micros Systems took place in mid-2012 . Micros Systems, in turn, was taken over by Oracle in summer 2014

In the summer of 2015, Anker was successfully spun off from the Oracle Group with the help of German private investors. From then on, ANKER Kassensysteme GmbH acted as an independent manufacturer of components for the point of sale with 70 employees at the old location in Bielefeld am Werkering. At the beginning of 2019, the company finally moved to Striegauer Straße in Bielefeld. Today's product portfolio includes high-quality cash drawers, cash cassettes and so-called flexi-stands, component holders for card terminals, cash drawers and more, produced and developed in Bielefeld with worldwide sales.

motorcycles

Anker 665, built in 1952, with a 150 cm³ Sachs engine
  • Motorbike (1902–03) (1.75 HP Fafnir engine)
  • Motorbike men / women (1930–35) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke by Fichtel & Sachs, 74 cm³, 1.25 hp)
  • Motorbike men / women (1934-40) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke from Fichtel & Sachs, 98 cm³, 2.25 HP)
  • Saxonette (1938-40) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke from Fichtel & Sachs, 60 cm³, 1.2 HP)
  • 660 (1948-50) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke by Fichtel & Sachs, 98 cm³, 2.25 hp)
  • 662 (1950-52) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke from Fichtel & Sachs, 98 cm³, 3 HP)
  • 662A (1951–53) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke from Fichtel & Sachs, 98 cm³, 3 HP)
  • 661 (1949-52) (1 cyl., 2-stroke from ILO, 123 cm³, 5 HP)
  • 665 (AS 150) (1951-53) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke from Fichtel & Sachs, 147 cm³, 6.5 HP)
  • 666 (AS 175) (1952–53) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke from ILO, 174 cm³, 8.5 PS or from Fichtel & Sachs, 174 cm³, 9.5 PS)
  • AS 200 (1953) (1 cylinder, 2-stroke from ILO, 198 cm³, 11 HP)

literature

  • Peter Wilhelm: Old sewing machines. Names - dates - facts. 1st edition. Mecke, Duderstadt 1987, ISBN 3-932752-87-2 , online at Google-books .
  • Historical Museum Bielefeld: From Bielefeld into the world - 125 years of Anker-Werke Series of publications by the Historical Museums of the City of Bielefeld; Vol. 18, Bielefeld 2001, exhibition catalog.

Web links

Commons : anchor works  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. AKS anchor. History of the company ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 28, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / aks-anker.de
  2. Peter Wilhelm: "Old sewing machines: names - data - facts", p. 29.
  3. Peter Wilhelm: "Old sewing machines: names - data - facts", p. 31.
  4. Billion acquisition: SAP arch-rival Oracle buys Micros Systems. In: Spiegel Online . June 23, 2014, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  5. a b website ANKER Kassensysteme GmbH. Retrieved July 28, 2016 .
  6. Homepage of Anker BV
  7. Homepage of the company ( Memento of the original dated March 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.torexretail.com
  8. Press release "Cerberus takes over Torex Retail" ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.textilwirtschaft.de
  9. Takeover of Torex, company announcement ( Memento of the original dated December 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.torex.com

Coordinates: 52 ° 0 ′ 59.9 ″  N , 8 ° 32 ′ 10.2 ″  E