Combine VEB Elektrogerätewerk Suhl

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Combine VEB Elektrogerätewerk Suhl
legal form publicly-owned business
Seat Suhl
Number of employees 4,000+ (1970 / 80s)
Branch Household appliances , electrical appliances , consumer goods , electrical engineering

The VEB Elektrogerätewerk Suhl combine was founded in the mid- 1970s with its headquarters on the north industrial site in Suhl . The combine brought together existing state- owned companies (VEB) and newly expropriated private companies and, with around 4,000 employees, was one of the largest combines of its kind. It was founded on the basis of the resolutions of the 8th party congress on the GDR's consumer goods program in 1971. Among the best-known The products of the combine included the Omega vacuum cleaner and the Komet kitchen appliances.

Parent company VEB Elektrogerätewerk Suhl

The following plants that produced certain articles were counted as part of the parent company. Some ranges were only produced for a limited time.

In the industrial area of ​​Suhl Nord (today Zella-Mehlis ), 5 liter hot water storage tanks in over and under counter versions, food slicers, motor grills, gyros grills and a flashing light strobe - ZEG 1 N ignition timing device were manufactured.

Mainly small electrical appliances were produced in Werner-Seelenbinder-Strasse, from hair clippers for hairdressers to dog and sheep shearing machines. Massagers, hair dryers, electric shavers and battery razors were also manufactured.

Hand mixers and mixers with accessories and GA 4 dishwashers were manufactured in the Talstrasse Zella-Mehlis plant .

  • Mixer RG3

  • Mixer RG5

  • Hand mixer and mixer "AKA electric RG28s"

  • Quality control - measuring device - dial indicator - combine VEB Elektrogerätewerk Suhl

The Schleusingen plant manufactured various electric motors, including the one for the VEB EIO cylinder vacuum cleaner. The Steinbach-Hallenberg plant manufactured kitchen machines. Metal processing took place in the Dietzhausen plant .

Other establishments

Dishwasher from VEB Elektro Installation Oberlind in the GDR Museum Pirna

VEB Elektroinstallation Oberlind (Sonneberg) manufactured floor vacuum cleaners, space heaters and coffee grinders (beater mills, grinder mills).

The best-known product of VEB Elektrowärme Altenburg, which was later converted into Omega electric GmbH , is the Omega vacuum cleaner . Hand vacuum cleaners, hair dryers (stick air showers, hot air comb) as well as commercial dust and water vacuums SWS and floor cleaning machines (FBM) were also manufactured here.

VEB Elektrowärme Sörnewitz manufactured dry and steam irons as well as electric stoves, hot water storage tanks and boiling water heaters.

VEB Elektrogeräte still exists today as "Efbe Elektrogeräte GmbH" in Bad Blankenburg after reunification .

VEB Ingenieurgeräte Karl-Marx-Stadt was the research and development company of the combine. The device test took place u. a. with an acoustics laboratory that was modern for the time.

VEB Household Electric Berlin was a customer service company with branches in all district cities.

In addition, there were the product group work and the trade fair advertising department in Leipzig.

trademark

The individual trademarks Omega, Efbe, Komet, IKA electrica, EWS, which existed at the beginning, were replaced over time by the uniform industry trademark " AKA electric ".

Main trading partner

Exports were mainly carried out via AHB Heimelectric Berlin ( foreign trade company ). Domestically, the products were sold by the Central Goods Account Office for Household Goods (ZWK) as a coordinating body for the wholesale companies (GHG) as well as to several special demand carriers, such as B. Peasant trade cooperative , NVA , construction industry, Red Army etc. bought.

Positioning in real socialism

The export quota was quite low due to the considerable competition in the West, but export items were given priority due to the need for foreign exchange. Part of the competition's patent protection could be circumvented through skilful replicas and reengineering , the patent quota of the combine was comparatively high. The developers were not allowed to travel to non-socialist countries , there was a lack of important small parts and raw materials for the implementation of the technical constructions and even access to western magazines was extremely restrictive. Some devices that were more or less legally imported from the West, such as test beds or CAD devices, were subject to considerable access restrictions in the combine itself.

A number of desired devices, such as a microwave or a solarium, could never be realized for technical reasons and a lack of supply with the necessary small parts and raw materials. A general problem in the consumer goods industry in the East was the inadequate energy supply for private households. The very popular small electrical appliances could not be operated continuously, so the simultaneous operation of fan heaters and irons was ruled out due to the low household power consumption . If normal room and building heating failed, the fan heaters used to bridge the gap led to further failures in the power grid, which also adversely affected the industry.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thuringia sheets on regional studies, history of the district of Suhl, page 4 (PDF; 1.8 MB)
  2. ↑ a b https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/design-in-der-ddr-a-947061.html
  3. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of November 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Efbe-Schott - History
  5. ↑ a b c d e Between plan and bankruptcy: Experience reports from the working world of the GDR, by Friedrich Thiessen , Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar, 2001 - 342 pages