Borsig (company)

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BORSIG GmbH
legal form GmbH
founding July 22, 1837
Seat Berlin , Germany
management Jürgen Stegger
Number of employees 574
Branch Mechanical and plant engineering
Website www.borsig.de

The listed Borsigtor in Berlin-Tegel was completed in 1898 according to plans by the architects Konrad Reimer and Friedrich Körte

Borsig is a German mechanical engineering company based in Berlin . The company mainly manufactured steam locomotives and during the steam locomotive era was the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world.

Foundation and first locomotive construction

Drawing of Borsig's first steam locomotive, 1840
Karl Eduard Biermann : The foundry and workshops of Borsig at the Oranienburger Tor , 1847. The painting shows the factory in 1837.
Replica from 1912 of the Beuth (serial number 24) in the German Museum of Technology in Berlin

After many years of work in the iron foundry of Franz Anton Egells , August Borsig founded his own foundry and mechanical engineering company on July 22, 1837 - the day of the first successful casting - in Berlin's Tierra del Fuego in front of the Oranienburger Tor , corner of Chaussee and Torstrasse. As foreman he won in 1837 Johann Friedrich Ludwig Wöhlert , with the Borsig since their activities for Franz Anton Egells New Berlin iron foundry was a friend. Wöhlert stayed until 1841 and then founded his own company in the immediate vicinity, the F. Wöhlert'sche Maschinenbau-Anstalt und Eisengiesserei . In the early days, Borsig built steam engines for its own use and for other companies, as well as artificial and structural cast parts. Repairs to steam locomotives were carried out for the first time in 1839 for the Berlin-Potsdam railway company .

The factory built its first own locomotive with the name "Borsig" and factory number 1 in 1840. The machine had the axle sequence type 2'A1, an inner frame and inclined outer cylinders. Wöhlert was also involved in the construction; who later claimed to have been the actual author, which Borsig denied.

Borsig had the locomotive compete on July 21st for a race from Berlin to Jüterbog on the Anhalter Bahn against a locomotive built by George Stephenson . The "Borsig" won the race by ten minutes. This showed that, despite a lack of experience, the Germans were able to build locomotives that were at least as good as the British makes. So it was no longer necessary to import railway vehicles and technicians. Another six machines of this type went to the Berlin-Szczecin Railway and the Upper Silesian Railway in 1842 . By 1843 Prussian railways ordered 18 steam locomotives, and at the General German Trade Exhibition in 1844 , Borsig exhibited its 26th locomotive.

Expansion of production

Locomotive construction near Borsig, from the cycle life story of a locomotive by Paul Friedrich Meyerheim
Karl Eduard Biermann : The Borsigsche Maschinenbau-Anstalt , 1847
Borsig locomotive No. 5009, built in 1901

The company's serial number 14 was the first locomotive of an enlarged and improved design, of which a total of 71 were built in the years 1843–1847. As an innovation, it had the swing control with variable filling, patented by Borsig. The hundredth locomotive left the factory in this design in 1846.

In 1845 Borsig built the first steam locomotive with coupled axles , from 1851 also as a tank locomotive . In the same year, the company received foreign orders from the Warsaw-Vienna Railway and the Zealand Railway . A total of 170 locomotives were built from 1845 to 1847.

At the same time, Borsig was working on the fountain system in Sanssouci , for which he supplied the steam pump system, on the dome of the Nikolaikirche in Potsdam and on the dome of the Royal Palace . His company expanded massively during this time, as new rail lines were being laid all over Germany.

To expand the factories on Chausseestrasse , Borsig built a rolling mill and a boiler shop between 1847 and 1849 on a site between Elberfelder Strasse and Stromstrasse in Moabit .

In 1850, Borsig also acquired the iron foundry and mechanical engineering company of the Prussian Sea Handling Society at Kirchstrasse 6. The factory premises extended east of Kirchstrasse from the corner of Alt-Moabit to the Moabiter Bridge. The three Berlin companies already employed 1,800 people, which at the time represented a large company that was not affected by the economic crisis from 1848 to 1852.

Rise to the world's second largest locomotive supplier

KFNB locomotive from Borsigwerke, built in 1857
Prussian T 12 from Borsig, built in 1921

The 500th steam locomotive was delivered in 1854, and Borsig was appointed secret councilor on the occasion of the associated celebration . Shortly afterwards, a few days after his 50th birthday, he died unexpectedly of a stroke . His son Albert took over the business. In 1854 he co-founded the machine factory Germany in Dortmund, which is located directly on the Cologne-Minden railway line .

On the occasion of the completion of the 1000th Borussia type locomotive , another big celebration took place on August 21, 1858 with many prominent guests, including Alexander von Humboldt . At that time the company already had 2,800 workers. The company continued to expand in the period that followed. In 1862 part of the production was relocated to Silesia , namely to Lower (e.g. Breslau / Wrocław) and Upper Silesia (e.g. Biskupitz / Biskupice, now part of Hindenburg / Zabrze ), and in 1872 the company was Borsig the largest locomotive supplier in Europe and the second largest worldwide after the Baldwin Locomotive Works in the USA.

Borsig set up a health insurance fund , a death benefit fund and a savings bank for his workers . There was a classroom, a dining room and a swimming pool.

From 1876 steam railcars were also produced, from 1880 under Rowan license , which was acquired together with the French Société Franco-Belge de Matériel de Chemins de Fer . By 1891 the two companies had built around 85 three- and four-axle Rowan trams and branch lines . The first of these railcars was a double-decker with four axles for 98 passengers, 8 of them in the first, 30 in the second and 60 in the third class in the open upper floor.

Albert Borsig died of heart failure in April 1878 at the age of 49. This ended the probably most successful chapter of Borsig's activity. The company was then headed by a board of trustees in place of Albert's sons , who were still underage, ( Ernst Borsig , Arnold Borsig and Conrad von Borsig ), who were only able to take over management of the company in 1894.

In 1898 a new plant was inaugurated in Tegel , which could be reached both by water and by rail. In addition to steam engines and locomotives , refrigeration machines , ship steam engines and steam plows were also manufactured in this new plant . In order to improve its steam engines, Borsig also worked with other companies such as Adolf Wagener from Küstrin . From 1900 onwards, Borsig also supplied a large number of narrow-gauge factory locomotives, compressed air and tram locomotives. In 1902 the 5,000th locomotive was built, the Stettin 41 , a Prussian S 3 locomotive .

In 1908, Borsig built the world's first artificial ice rink for the Berlin Sports Palace . In 1918 Borsig delivered the 10,000. Locomotive off.

Moving years

Aerial photo of the Borsigwerke in 1931
World record locomotive series 05 from Borsig, built in 1935
Forging a piston rod for a large compressor from a 10-ton block under a three-cylinder, purely hydraulic 2500-ton forging press from Borsig AG in Berlin-Tegel, 1954
View into a bay of the 22,240 m² west hall for heavy and medium-sized mechanical engineering at Borsig AG, 1954

The chief designer for locomotives had been master craftsman since 1912 . Among other things, the Prussian P 10 and the HBE animal class were created under his leadership . From 1922 Borsig played a key role in the development of the standard steam locomotives for the Deutsche Reichsbahn . The unification office of the Association of German Locomotive Manufacturers was subordinated to Meister and settled at Borsig.

In 1926 the company was converted into a GmbH . During the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s, the production quotas of the Deutsche Reichsbahn were taken over from other locomotive factories. Although it continued to build locomotives on a large scale, the company lost market share to alternative modes of transport. Borsig also built tractors from 1924 to 1929 .

During the Great Depression, the company was on the verge of liquidation in 1930 , but was saved from it in 1931 through a merger with AEG . As early as 1918, AEG had been manufacturing steam locomotives in its former “aircraft construction department” in Hennigsdorf . Until 1934, the Tegel and Hennigsdorf plants shared locomotive construction. In January 1935, Borsig locomotive construction was completely relocated from Tegel to the Hennigsdorf plant, which had been operating as Borsig Lokomotiv-Werke GmbH Hennigsdorf (BLW) since 1931 . The 05 001 high-speed locomotive, sponsored by Borsig director Valentin Litz and largely designed under the direction of chief engineer Adolf Wolff , was presented to the public in March 1935 on the Tegel factory premises. The majority of shares in the BLW went to the Reichswerke Hermann Göring in 1938 .

The factory halls in Tegel were taken over by Rheinmetall AG in Düsseldorf . In 1936 the company was changed to Rheinmetall-Borsig AG ; the state holding company VIAG owned a majority stake.

From 1942 Borsig was involved in the construction of the DR class 52 war locomotives . For the third class planned after the second DR class 42 war locomotive , Borsig submitted the draft of a Mallet locomotive with the unusual wheel arrangement (1'C) D, which was not implemented.

After the war ended, Hennigsdorf was in the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ). On the orders of the Soviet military administration , all large industrial plants were expropriated and declared " public property ". All functional machine tools and production machines in the Hennigsdorf plant were nevertheless dismantled as reparations and brought to the Soviet Union. Afterwards, the employees carried out repairs to steam locomotives using spare machines that had been painstakingly collected. After the factory was able to work again, locomotives were built again. It was continued in the GDR as VEB Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke Hans Beimler Hennigsdorf . Up to and including 1954, around 13,000 locomotives were built at Borsig.

The Borsig AG was founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of belonging to the Federal Property West Germany's Rheinmetall AG refounded (Dusseldorf), and the government also in 1956 Salzgitter AG sold. In 1967 the company was converted into Borsig GmbH. This was taken over in 1970 by Deutsche Babcock AG and merged to Babcock-Borsig AG .

Current situation

In July 2002 the parent company Babcock Borsig AG in Oberhausen went into bankruptcy . Although operating profitably, Borsig also had to file for bankruptcy as a result. The financial obligations could, however, continue to be serviced, business activities were continued for the activities not belonging to the Babcock Group. In September 2002 the business operations were transferred from the insolvency administrator to the new Borsig GmbH, which was given equity capital of 1.9 million euros. The previous Borsig GmbH should have been wound up in the Abwicklungsgesellschaft Borsig mbH by the beginning of 2004.

On May 28, 2003, Borsig was taken over by management and the financial investor capiton . The new Borsig GmbH employed 263 people in Berlin and Gladbeck . The new owners wanted to develop Borsig further. The two business areas of apparatus construction and industrial service were to be expanded in Berlin and Gladbeck and new areas were to be acquired and further developed.

In December 2004, Borsig bought the reciprocating compressor and blower business of the mechanical engineering company ZM Zwickauer Maschinenfabrik . In September 2006, Borsig took over the Hamburg boiler manufacturer DIM KWE . In March 2008, Borsig GmbH and its subsidiaries were taken over by the KNM Group Berhad from Malaysia for 350 million euros .

Currently (2020) the following operating companies belong to the BORSIG Group:

  • Borsig GmbH in Berlin-Tegel (Holding)
  • Borsig Membrane Technology GmbH in Gladbeck (North Office) and Rheinfelden (South Office)
  • Borsig Process Heat Exchanger GmbH in Berlin-Tegel
  • Borsig Service GmbH in Berlin-Tegel and Gladbeck and Hamburg
  • Borsig ZM Compression GmbH in Meerane and Gladbeck
  • Borsig ValveTech GmbH in Gladbeck and Leegebruch

The company is the international market leader in the development and manufacture of apparatus for cooling gases in the chemical and petrochemical industries. In 2008 the Borsig Group employed 508 people and had sales of 237.1 million euros, 60% of which were abroad.

  • From September 1987 the new entrance to Borsig GmbH is approx. 800 meters further to the left of the old Borsig gate (Berliner Straße 27), now at Egellsstraße 21 in Berlin-Tegel

  • Ruins of the Borsigwerke in Tegel, 2013

  • Remains of a production hall in Tegel, 2013

  • The largest area, around 2 ⁄ 3 of the old Borsig GmbH premises, was sold to the Berlin Senate by the "parent company", Deutsche Babcock AG, photo 1999

The Borsig tower

Borsigturm, 2017
The Borsig Tower opened in 1925, around 1925

The Borsigturm is a high-rise on the Borsigwerke company premises in Berlin-Tegel , which - depending on the definition - is considered the first high-rise in Berlin.

The cramped space conditions on the factory premises are said to have triggered the construction of the tower. The building was built between 1922 and 1924 according to plans by the architect Eugen Schmohl , who a little later also built the Ullsteinhaus in Tempelhof. The tower is 65 meters high and has an area of ​​20 m × 16 m. It was built as a steel frame structure , the facades of which are made of brick. The facade is structured by protruding cornice strips, each of which combines three floors. Nine of the floors were used as administrative offices. A water tank was installed on the tenth and eleventh floors to supply the factory premises, so the Borsig tower initially also served as a water tower . The building quickly became the symbol of the Borsigwerke. The architectural style is to be assigned to brick expressionism.

During the Second World War , the Borsig tower was damaged by bombs, but not destroyed. The offices were burned out.

In the 1970s and 1990s the tower was renovated and continued to be used as an office building.

The interior was not accessible to visitors until 2009. Since then, for the first time, three levels of the Borsig Tower have been publicly available as event rooms. The two-storey lounge in the top of the tower offers a panoramic view of the city from a height of 60 meters. The newly created “Meistersaal” on the ground floor combines industrial architecture with modern technical equipment. In addition to public events, the rooms can also be rented for private and corporate events.

The Borsig tower stands as part of the overall plant plant Borsig under monument protection .

See also

  • Bergmann-Borsig , manufacturer of power plant components in the GDR . The Bergmann factory in Berlin-Wilhelmsruh was not part of the Borsig Group. It was nicknamed 'Borsig' after it was rebuilt in 1949 because many employees of the dismantled and confiscated Borsig plant in Berlin-Tegel had helped with it.

literature

  • Ulla Galm: August Borsig. Stapp, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-87776-167-4 .
  • Walter Hefti: Steam trams . Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel (1984), ISBN 3-7643-1536-9 , hardcover.
  • Dietrich Kutschik: Locomotives from Borsig. A presentation of the locomotive history of A. Borsig and the successor companies. Transpress, Publishing House for Transport, Berlin 1985.
  • Dietrich Kutschik, Hansjürgen Wenzel, Maytthias Koch: Borsig. Locomotives for the world. Eisenbahn-Kurier-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1985, ISBN 3-88255-111-9 .
  • Wolfgang Messerschmidt: Paperback German locomotive factories. Their history, their locomotives, their designers . 1st edition. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-440-04462-9 ISBN 978-3-440-04462-9 , paperback.
  • Fritz Pachtner: German mechanical engineering 1837–1937 as reflected in the Borsig plant. Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, Berlin 1937 (with designs by Wilhelm Renfordt ).
  • Kurt Pierson: Borsig, a name goes around the world. The history of the Borsig company and its locomotives. Rembrandt-Verlag, Berlin 1973, ISBN 3-7925-0204-6 .
  • Dieter Head: Borsig. Iron foundry and mechanical engineering institute in Berlin. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-88680-101-2 .
  • With the locomotive king . In: The Gazebo . Issue 35, 1867, pp. 554–558 ( full text [ Wikisource ] - illustrated by Adolf Eltzner ).
  • Hans-Heinrich Müller : Wöhlert - a pioneer in mechanical engineering . In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 3, 1996, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 16-19 ( luise-berlin.de ). .

Web links

Commons : Borsig-Werk  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Hans-Heinrich Müller : Wöhlert - a pioneer of mechanical engineering . In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 3, 1996, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 16-19 ( luise-berlin.de ).
  2. ↑ a b Friedrich Wöhlert'sche Maschinenbauanstalt and Eisengießerei Aktiengesellschaft . albert-gieseler.de; accessed on March 5, 2015
  3. ↑ Catalog-30 / F. Wöhlert'sche Maschinenbau-Anstalt and Eisengiesserei AG . gutowski.de
  4. ^ Messerschmidt: Paperback German locomotive factories (1977); P. 218
  5. ↑ Official report on the General German Trade Exhibition in Berlin in 1844 , Volume II, p. 544; uni-koeln.de (PDF).
  6. ↑ a b Company history (PDF)
  7. ↑ The Borsigfest in Berlin - The 1000th “Borussia” locomotive on its way to its destination on August 21st
  8. ↑ a b Hefti: Dampf-Strassenbahnen (1984); P. 37
  9. ^ Hefti: Dampf-Strassenbahnen (1984); P. 38, fig. 44
  10. ↑ Rudolf Heym: How does it actually work, the steam locomotive? , GeraMond, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-7654-7255-7 , p. 43
  11. ↑ a b Borsig: The history of the Borsig works. Retrieved March 26, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Alfred Gottwaldt : Wagner's standard locomotives. The steam locomotives of the Reichsbahn and their creators. EK-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2012, ISBN 978-3-88255-738-1 , p. 40 ff.
  13. ↑ Helmut Lindner: The reined tug. First attempts in Germany to mechanize agriculture. In: Culture & Technology. The magazine from the Deutsches Museum. Volume 15, No. 3, 1991, ISSN  0344-5690 , pp. 20-21, deutsches-museum.de (PDF; 2 MB).
  14. ↑ Borsig is taken over by Malaysian KNM for EUR 350 million. produktion.de, March 3, 2008  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.produktion.de  
  15. ↑ Florian Langenscheidt , Bernd Venohr (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German world market leaders. (The premier class of German companies in words and pictures.) German Standards Editions, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-86936-221-2 .
  16. ↑ a b c One of Berlin's first skyscrapers is in Tegel . In: Reinickendorfer Allgemeine Zeitung . No. 6 , March 29, 2018, p. 28 .
  17. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List