Bunge (vehicle plant)
| CH BUNGE KG (GmbH & Co.) vehicle factory
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| legal form | KG (GmbH & Co.) |
| founding | May 18, 1896 |
| resolution | November 11, 2003 |
| Reason for dissolution | Site closure |
| Seat | Bremen , Germany |
| management | Gerhard Sommer, Herbert Sommer (managing partner) |
| Number of employees | approx. 250 (2001) |
| sales | approx. 18 million euros (2001) |
The CH Bunge KG (GmbH & Co.) car plant was a German company based in Bremen Mahndorf . The products manufactured were truck trailers and bodies , semi-trailers , low loaders , tippers and tankers . Bunge also built special vehicles, such as B. the chassis of amusement rides for the HUSS machine factory, which is also based in Bremen .
history
Christian Heinrich Bunge (* August 8, 1870 - March 17, 1963) came from a Westphalian family of master blacksmiths. He continued this tradition, learned the blacksmith's trade and went on a journey as a journeyman. After his military service he went to Bremen to take his master craftsman examination.
On May 18, 1896, Bunge leased a forge in Bremen-Hemelingen and just eight years later the company moved to its own, larger production facility in Hannoversche Strasse. The manufacture of exclusive carriages began there. Even the Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe , a brother-in-law of the emperor at the time, owned a Bunge car.
Bunge's son Wilhelm was born on March 17, 1902 and in 1918 he joined his father's company. He is doing an apprenticeship in Bremen and in 1924 completed further training at the State Farrier and Apprenticeship Forge in Dresden. In 1927 he passed his master blacksmith examination in Wilhelmshaven. He returned to his father's company and became a partner in 1935. On his initiative, the company started building exclusive hunting cars , dogcarts , chaises and other luxury cars.
Bunge began manufacturing trailers for agriculture and haulage companies as early as 1926.
After the Second World War, the range was expanded to include special vehicles, low loaders, dump trucks and refrigerated vehicles, and the company's economic upswing. In 1954, a larger and more modern factory is moved into on Stresemannstrasse . In 1961 the first tank semitrailer was delivered. The oilfield and tank trucks were also exported to the Middle East.
In February 1973 Bunge moved to von-Thünen-Straße in Bremen-Mahndorf. A 20,000 m² production hall with eight production systems was built on a 70,000 m² site. At this point in time, Bunge had around 150 employees.
In the early 1980s there was a crisis as export orders collapsed. After problems with the successor , the company was sold in March 1988 by the founder's heirs to the brothers Herbert and Gerhard Sommer, who already operated a vehicle factory in Bielefeld with 250 employees and 40 million marks in sales.
In 1996 the company celebrated its centenary. At that time it had almost 170 employees and now also manufactured box vehicles for furniture and textile transport.
At the beginning of April 2003 it became known that the Sommer Group was realigning itself and, in this context, would like to close the Bremen plant and relocate production to Bielefeld , to the Sommer headquarters. On the other hand, the works council and the workforce accused the management of "having consistently run down the Bremen plant". The location was closed in autumn of that year and the company's headquarters were officially relocated to Bielefeld on November 11, 2003. Around 200 employees were still affected by the plant closure.
Web links
- Powalski - The forum for historic commercial vehicles - Article about Bunge with lots of photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Weser Kurier, August 8, 1960, p. 5
- ↑ a b Weser Kurier, September 19, 1963
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Petra Spangenberg: "The carriages were once in demand", Weser Kurier, May 18, 1996
- ^ Company brochure from 1973
- ↑ a b c d Weser Kurier, March 17, 1972
- ↑ a b c d e Weser Kurier, March 16, 1982
- ^ Weser Kurier, March 8, 1988
- ^ Weser Kurier, April 9, 2003
- ↑ a b Weser Kurier, April 29, 2003
- ^ Weser Kurier, November 19, 2003, section Official. Notices
Coordinates: 53 ° 2 '22.6 " N , 8 ° 58' 3.1" E