Friedrich W. Pleuger

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Friedrich Wilhelm Pleuger

Friedrich Wilhelm Pleuger (* 6. April 1899 in Bonn ; † 9. October 1972 in Hamburg ) was a German engineer and entrepreneur, which in particular wet-running - electric motors and ship rudder systems and patented developed. He was a partner and founder of the company Pleuger Unterwasserpumpen GmbH in Hamburg (today Pleuger Industries ), with which he marketed these developments. He was also the Consul General of Ghana in Hamburg.

Its technical developments were used worldwide in various areas; Among other things, in underground railway construction ( Berlin , Moscow ) and in drainage systems all over the world.

Life and private life

Friedrich W. Pleuger was born on April 6, 1899 in Bonn on the Rhine. He attended the city high school there before he went to the First World War , from which he returned as a lieutenant . He studied at the Technical University in Berlin and at a commercial college. Pleuger had a wife (Irmgard Pleuger) and a son.

After his death, Petra Lange got in touch, claiming to be Pleuger's illegitimate daughter. Irmgard Pleuger did not believe this and accused her of having been Pleuger's mistress.

Companies and developments

In 1929, Pleuger began developing submersible pumps with wet-rotor motors in Berlin Unter den Linden . Very soon his developments found application during the underground construction in Berlin. The pumps were used to lower the groundwater. By purchasing other pump manufacturers, Pleuger was able to expand his company. Special new developments made it possible to pump high-quality, bacteria-free drinking water from deep-lying groundwater layers. These new developments paved the way for expansion into the municipal drinking water supply . Pleuger's company grew rapidly, particularly through large projects such as B. the subway construction in Moscow and drainage systems, for example in France , Mexico or Argentina . Until the outbreak of war, Pleuger employed over 200 people. During the Second World War , the two works in Berlin and Greiz that had been created by then were largely destroyed. The remains were expropriated by the GDR after the war .

In October 1945, Pleuger decided to move to Hamburg, where he set up a small repair shop in the Altona district . He managed to bring former Pleuger employees back into his company and thus also their know-how . Former Pleuger customers who needed repairs or spare parts for their Pleuger pumps soon got in touch. In the early post-war years the company grew rapidly and was able to acquire large orders again. This growth enabled the construction of a plant in Hamburg-Wandsbek, which is still the headquarters today. So by 1968 a production facility with 10 production halls, 5 administration buildings, a test hall and an outdoor test pool was built on an area of ​​41,000 m². The number of employees grew from 200 in 1954 to 650 in 1968.

In addition to the pump production, Pleuger had the production of the maneuvering aids " active rudder " developed based on his idea intensified. He developed this already during the Second World War, but the patent was only issued after the war, as no administrative resources were available during the war. Pleuger also invented the pod drive .

Due to the constant technical innovations, Pleuger's company grew and expanded more and more abroad. This expansion led Pleuger to set up various subsidiaries abroad, including in the USA, Mexico, England and Spain.

After his death, the company continued to expand and merged several times with other pump manufacturers. After a takeover by the Flowserve group , the economic development was negative. In 2018 the company was acquired by the Flacks Group and is independent again in Hamburg. The Flacks Group has decided to name the group again after its founder (Pleuger Industries).

Consul of Ghana

In the search for expansion opportunities, Pleuger discovered the possibility of investing on the African continent, as his pumps could be used there for water extraction. In order to create the structures for his economic activity in African countries, he was the first underwater pump manufacturer to set up a manufacturing and service station in the Republic of Ghana . Later he founded the Pleuger of Ghana Ltd. The government of Ghana recognized this entrepreneurial achievement in 1968 with the appointment of Pleuger as Consul General in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg . After death threats against Pleuger and the Secretary of the Consulate General, the consulate was temporarily closed in June 1972. In addition to the threats, Pleuger himself cited the political conditions in Ghana and differences of opinion with the Foreign Service as reasons for his resignation.

Kidnapping of his wife Irmgard Pleuger

Friedrich Pleuger entered into a compensation deal with the then ruler of Equatorial Guinea Macias Mguema . Local agricultural products from Equatorial Guinea were to be "swapped" for medicines and vehicles from Germany. More precisely, it was "[2000 t] cocoa from Equatorial Guinea [and] medical instruments, medicines, 6 Mercedes buses, 2 Mercedes Pullmann 600, 1 Mercedes 300 SEL, 1 Mercedes 280 SEL, 18 BMW motorcycles for the bodyguard, 2 Linotype typesetting machines and a vacuum cleaner [from Germany] ”. After exchanging the goods, the Chamber of Agriculture of Equatorial Guinea posed as the seller and increased the price of the cocoa many times over. Since there was a friendship between the Pleuger couple and the von Mguema family, Irmgard Pleuger flew to Santa Isabel on December 9, 1970 to clarify the matter. She was provided with a "letter of protection" from the president, which, like her passport, was confiscated after her arrival. Since Irmgard Pleuger had heart problems, she was dependent on appropriate medication, which was not available in Santa Isabel . So Friedrich Pleuger asked the Geneva Red Cross for help, which brought the medicines to Santa Isabel. During the entire kidnapping, the lawyer Christian L. Jarck, as authorized representative of Friedrich Pleuger, negotiated with the government of Equatorial Guinea. Mguema asked for a seven-figure sum as a ransom. After Friedrich Pleuger had deposited a bank guarantee, Irmgard Pleuger was able to leave the country after delays caused by the government of Equatorial Guinea and arrived at Hamburg Airport on January 17, 1971. Together with the cost of the cocoa, the total amount of the ransom amounted to 6.1 million Deutschmarks .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dispute over millions' inheritance. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. December 15, 1972, accessed on July 24, 2020 (German).
  2. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Reuss: One hundred years of rudder propellers - seventy-five years of pod drives. June 30, 2019, accessed on July 28, 2020 (German).
  3. ↑ a b Patent US2714866 : Device for propelling a ship. Published February 19, 1951 . ‌
  4. ↑ Motor pump specialist Pleuger Industries is back. In: MINING REPORT. June 12, 2019, accessed on July 28, 2020 (German).
  5. ^ Ghana reopened a consulate general. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. September 5, 1968, accessed on July 24, 2020 (German).
  6. ↑ Consul threatened with murder. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. June 19, 1972, accessed on July 24, 2020 (German).
  7. ↑ a b The ransom came to over 6 million marks. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. January 19, 1971, accessed July 23, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Irmgard Pleuger falls ill. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. January 9, 1971, accessed on July 24, 2020 (German).
  9. ↑ President demands a seven-figure ransom. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. December 28, 1970, accessed on July 24, 2020 (German).
  10. ↑ So Irmgard Pleuger was "liberated". In: Hamburger Abendblatt. January 18, 1971, accessed on July 24, 2020 (German).
personal data
SURNAME Pleuger, Friedrich W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pleuger, Friedrich Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German engineer and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1972
Place of death Hamburg