Empacher shipyard
| Bootswerft Empacher GmbH | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Company with limited liability |
| founding | December 18, 1923 |
| Seat | Eberbach , Germany |
| management | Helmut Empacher |
| Number of employees | over 70 |
| Branch | Boat building and repair (rowing boats) |
| Website | www.empacher.de |
| As of February 5, 2014 | |
The empacher GmbH based in Eberbach is one of the world's largest shipyards for rowing boats . The shipyard traditionally paints its boats almost exclusively yellow. Since all boats are custom-made, they are only made to order.
history
On December 18, 1923, the shipyard in Königsberg was founded by Willy Empacher. At first yachts were built, with Willy Empacher soon being supported by Wilhelm Karlisch. The company expanded; in addition to sailing and motor yachts , ice sailing boats were also manufactured. In the 1930s Empacher had over 100 employees. During the war, boats had to be manufactured for the navy, and production was affected by the chaos of the war. In 1945, Willy Empacher fled with his family from East Prussia, initially to Schleswig-Holstein, and ended up penniless in Eberbach in 1947 .
After 1948, Willy Empacher took over the Seibert shipyard in Eberbach. In the beginning, mainly rowing boats were repaired, from 1952 new boats were built, so that in 1953 a move to a new, larger area was necessary.
breakthrough
When Jochen Meißner won the silver medal in an Empacher single at the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968 , the company experienced a real boom . Further successes of these boats also secured the company financially. In 1970 Willy Empacher's son, Hans Empacher, took over management of the company. Hans Empacher, who had previously worked in the aerospace industry, optimized the business and geared it more towards the construction of plastic boats. In 1977 the wooden boat yard was rebuilt. Both the wood and plastic boat yards brought profits through personnel measures. The latter was rebuilt and modernized in 1990.
Current
The shipyard is currently run by Helmut Empacher. They were able to improve the quality through new developments of boats and production conversions, so that today (2010) around 50% (company information) of all participants in international regattas and championships row in Empach boats.
developments
- Plastic boats: Empacher developed the first plastic boats together with BASF as early as 1956, and in 1972 a plastic quad in a so-called sandwich construction was able to win an Olympic gold medal for the first time . In 1983 Empacher had improved the technology to such an extent that plastic boats could be produced without financial disadvantages; the sale of wooden boats fell rapidly from around 1987.
- Boats reinforced with carbon fibers: Empacher currently only produces this type of construction, which has been continuously developed since the 1980s, so that most boats are only made of synthetic resins reinforced with carbon or aramid fibers .
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '25.4 " N , 8 ° 59' 18.1" E