Ertel factory

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Ertel factory
legal form
founding 1802
resolution 1984
Seat Munich
Branch Precision mechanics

The Ertel-Werk für Feinmechanik was a company for the production of astronomical, geodetic and other precision mechanical instruments, which existed in Munich from 1802 to 1957 and then in Puchheim until 1983 . During the Second World War it was one of the manufacturing plants for the Enigma cipher machine . In Munich's Westend it was located on Barthstrasse from 1911 until it burned down completely after a bomb attack on April 25, 1944. After the war it was temporarily moved to a new location in Munich's Kuglmüllerstraße before it was relocated from Munich to neighboring Puchheim on June 1, 1957.

history

The company goes back to a "mathematical workshop" founded by Georg von Reichenbach in 1802 . Von Reichenbach developed and manufactured astronomical and geodetic instruments here together with his partners Joseph Liebherr and Joseph von Utzschneider . For a time Joseph von Fraunhofer was also an employee of the company. In 1804 the company was renamed the "Mathematical and Mechanical Institute" .

In 1821, Traugott Leberecht von Ertel (1778–1858), who had been a foreman in the company since 1804, took over the company. He strategically realigned the company and focused production on high-quality surveying instruments. In 1834 he renamed the company “T. Ertel & Sohn ”. In 1890 August Diez bought all shares in the company. Adolf Hahn, who joined as a partner in 1912, set up a department for military instruments and sold the company to Samuel Weikersheimer in 1916.

In 1921 the company was renamed again, now in "Ertel-Werke AG für Feinmechanik". At the same time, the product range was expanded to include the manufacture of cinematographic equipment . In 1928 all company shares were acquired by the director Walter Preyß. In 1935 he transformed the company into the sole proprietorship "Ertel-Werk für Feinmechanik". From 1939 the company switched to the production of goods essential to the war effort. Among other things, Enigma encryption machines were manufactured here. For reasons of secrecy , production during the war was not openly under the manufacturer's name, but rather covertly. The machines had a nameplate with a coded manufacturing code . In the case of the Ertel plant, it was the code name bac . A special feature of the Enigmas delivered by Ertel is the linen handle on the right side of the Enigma's wooden housing (see photo under web links). Other manufacturers attached leather straps or occasionally metal handles.

In July 1944, i.e. less than 12 months before the end of the war, the factory received a production order for 8,000 gap filler rollers (see photo under web links), which was increased to 12,000 shortly afterwards. These new types of Enigma rollers represented a significant innovation that would have significantly improved the cryptographic security of the Enigma , but which came too late to be used during the war. These new types of rotors made it possible to “set any type and number of switching gaps on each roller”. Due to the war, however, only a few could be produced and none could be delivered.

In the post-war period, the company focused on the development and manufacture of construction surveying instruments . The company went bankrupt in 1984 .

literature

  • Rainer Heer: Biographies of manufacturers of geodetic measurement technology . In alphabetical order, content without claim to completeness. ( Geodetic Institute Hannover [PDF; accessed on October 23, 2016]).
  • Carl R. Preyß: From Reichenbach's workshop to the Ertel factory for precision mechanics 1802–1962 . Ed .: Ertel-Werk f. Precision mechanics, on the occasion of d. 160 years Existence. Munich 1962, DNB  453848354 , OCLC 73648044 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Dreher: From Reichenbach's workshop to the Ertel factory in Puchheim - location history of a glorious company. Brochure, p. 13, stadtarchiv-puchheim.de (PDF; 5.0 MB), accessed on June 19, 2019.
  2. ↑ Werner Dreher: From Reichenbach's workshop to the Ertel factory in Puchheim - location history of a glorious company. Brochure, p. 7, stadtarchiv-puchheim.de (PDF; 5.0 MB), accessed on May 29, 2019.
  3. ^ Frode Weierud: When the Russians Visited the Enigma Firm. In: CryptoCellar Tales. Frode Weierud (cryptocellartales.blogspot.de), May 10, 2013, accessed on October 23, 2016 (English).
  4. ↑ Michael Pröse: Encryption machines and deciphering devices in the Second World War - the history of technology and aspects of the history of IT . Dissertation at the Technical University of Chemnitz. Leipzig 2004, p. 43 [47] , urn : nbn: de: swb: ch1-200500110 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 10 '51.7 "  N , 11 ° 22' 14.3"  E