Grundig (company)

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Grundig AG

logo
legal form u. a. Public company , limited liability company
founding 1930
resolution 2003, trademark since then
Seat Fürth , Nuremberg (until 2003),
2016 Neu-Isenburg
Number of employees 1,260 (2003)
sales 300 million euros (2003)
Website www.grundig.de

Grundig was a German entertainment electronics company based in Fürth and later Nuremberg . It was founded in 1930 by radio dealer Max Grundig .

It became a symbol of the West German economic miracle and was considered a traditional company for a long time. In April 2003 the company had to file for bankruptcy. For Grundig u. a. the Grundig Intermedia and Grundig Business Systems forth that continue to use the brand name to this day.

history

Old Grundig logo with Fürth clover in the company logo
Grundig plant in Nuremberg (2008)
Reel winding in the tape recorder factory in Bayreuth (1959)
Packing of finished tape case devices in the Bayreuth plant (1959)
Apprenticeship training at the Fürth plant (1959)

From Heinzelmann to largest radio manufacturer in Europe

The history of the group began in 1930 in Fürth with the establishment of the radio sales company Fürth, Grundig & Wurzer (RVF) at Sternstrasse 2 (today Ludwig-Erhard-Strasse), the store opened on November 15, 1930, Grundig's equity was used to set up the business 3000 marks. The co-founder Karl Wurzer soon got out. On June 21, 1934, Grundig leased a larger store with an upper floor, diagonally across the street, at Schwabacher Strasse 1, where there was now an office, accounting, inventory and repair shop. As transformers often burned out due to the different types of current in Fürth and Nuremberg - here direct current , there alternating current - the business founder installed winding machines on the first floor and used them to manufacture coils and transformers - the step from trading to own production. In 1938 the company had a turnover of more than one million Reichsmarks. During the war, production was relocated to the ballrooms of two restaurants in the suburb of Vach due to the risk of air raids . Up to 200 defective transformers were repaired there every day, soon there were 100 winding machines with 150 workers, mostly Ukrainian “foreign workers” ( forced laborers ) who were “provided” by AEG and Siemens . In addition to the transformers, Grundig manufactured control devices for the V1 and V2 rockets, as well as electric detonators for anti-tank weapons, both on behalf of Siemens and AEG. In 1944 Grundig produced 50,000 small transformers.

On May 18, 1945, Grundig and two employees transported some winding machines and devices on a cart from Vach back to Schwabacher Strasse 1 and opened the business, which was particularly popular with American customers. The repairs were followed by production, raw materials were still available in Vach, and Siemens owed 6.5 million and AEG 4.5 million Reichsmarks for goods delivered. In June 1945, the RVF was able to start production in the rear building at Jakobinenstrasse 24 - a former toy factory - 11 men and 31 women built universal transformers at a price of 37 Reichsmarks in the 400 m² room. At the end of 1946 111 workers and employees were employed, the turnover amounted to 1.3 million Reichsmarks.

After the end of the war in 1945, Max Grundig recognized the sales market for radios and initiated the production of the “Heinzelmann” equipment kit, which could circumvent the restrictions of the occupying power with regard to the production of ready-to-use radio equipment.

At the beginning of 1947, Max Grundig bought the former spa gardens of the König-Ludwig-Bades, a state-recognized healing spring, including ten percent of the healing water, from the city of Fürth. The foundation stone was laid on March 3, 1947, and on September 17, 1947, 280 employees took the tram from the former production site in the backyard of the property at Jakobinenstrasse 24 to the new location at Kurgartenstrasse 37. At the end of 1948, around 650 people were working on 5,500 m² of “work space”. On July 7th, 1948 Grundig renamed the "RVF Elektrotechnische Fabrik" to "Grundig Radio-Werk-GmbH", and on December 1st there was a further minor but significant change, the "Werk" became "Werke". On November 15, 1948, construction began on the first administration and management building, which is now the Fürth Broadcasting Museum. In February 1949 the 100,000 radio left Kurgartenstrasse, 800 employees produced in 25 factory halls and administration buildings, monthly production was 12,000 radio sets, the market share was 20 percent, making Grundig the market leader. A visible sign of the connection with the city of Fürth was the inclusion of the Fürth coat of arms with the clover leaf in the company logo.

The factory transmitter in the management building on Fürth's Kurgartenstrasse - largely designed by radio pioneer Walter Mayer - possibly broadcast the first regular German television program of the post-war period in September and October 1951.

In 1951 the first television receivers were manufactured in a new factory hall - the location and the company grew rapidly. At that time, Grundig was Europe's largest radio manufacturer. Companies from Nuremberg , Frankfurt am Main and Karlsruhe were bought, including the Adlerwerke and Triumph . Both plants merged in 1956 to form Triumph-Adler AG and since then have only produced office machines, but not under the Grundig name, but under their own name. In 1955 Grundig was the largest tape recorder manufacturer in the world and employed 8,600 people, with sales of 150 million marks.

In 1960 the first Grundig factory was established abroad - tape recorders were manufactured in Belfast (Northern Ireland). In 1965 a factory for car radios followed in Braga (Portugal). New production halls were also built on the Fürth Hardhöhe and in Nuremberg- Langwasser . In 1965 Grundig was the largest German television manufacturer, in 1966 the 16 millionth television set since 1945 left the factory. In 1968 Grundig-Werke GmbH sold Triumph-Adler AG to the US company Litton Industries . In 1970 the Grundig plants consisted of 21 companies and 19 manufacturing facilities, three more were under construction, as well as twelve branches and sales organization in Germany, 34 in total in Europe, 30 in Asia, 57 in Africa, 22 in Australia, 7 in the USA, 60 in Latin America. 25,000 employees generate a turnover of 1.14 billion marks. However, the increase in sales was no longer accompanied by corresponding increases in productivity and profit. Also in 1970 the company owner set up the "Max Grundig Foundation". The foundation took Max Grundig's position as sole owner; it was called a “corporate carrier company and holding company”, the purpose of which was to “ensure the continued existence of all Grundig companies with priority over the long term” and “to safeguard and promote common interests of the members of the Grundig family ”. On April 1, 1972, Grundig-Werke GmbH was converted into a stock corporation; the majority of the shares were initially owned by the Max Grundig Foundation. In 1979 Grundig AG reached its highest personnel level of 38,460 employees, the total turnover amounted to 2.956 billion marks, but turnover and profit continued to diverge. The chairman of the board of the stock corporation was Hans-Heinz Griesmeier (* 1925) , who was also the chairman of the board of the Krauss-Maffei .

Slump in sales and entry of Philips in the 1980s

At the beginning of the 1980s, Grundig AG's sales collapsed for the first time. The reasons for this were varied. In addition, Japanese consumer electronics were increasingly entering the European markets at this time. In 1983 the Dutch electronics company Philips held a 24.5% stake in Grundig AG. In December 1983 the management reported a group turnover of 3.06 billion DM. The profit transferred to the Max-Grundig-Stiftung amounted to 44 million DM. On his 75th birthday in May 1983, the company founder summed up: "To this day, the Grundig- Manufactured 27 million radio receivers, 11 million black and white receivers, 12 million color televisions, 16 million tape recorders, two million video recorders. 40 billion in sales were created and 11 billion marks in wages, 4.4 billion marks in social security paid and 1.7 billion marks invested. "

In April 1984 the Philips Group increased its stake to 31.6% and took over the management of Grundig AG. The previous managing director and company founder Max Grundig left the company management. In April 1984 the Federal Cartel Office approved the merger between Philips and Grundig on the condition that Grundig had to sell its dictation machine sales.

Decline around 1995 and bankruptcy in 2003

Despite record sales of DM 4.55 billion and an annual surplus of DM 190 million in 1991 - caused by the pent-up demand in the new federal states - the business crashed from 1992 to 1996: with a drop in sales of 3.709 billion Grundig made a total of almost DM 2 billion in losses of DM 3.329 billion, of which DM 1.2 billion alone in 1995 and 1996, and the number of employees almost halved from 16,250 to 8,580.

In 1998, the Philips group gave Grundig to a Bavarian consortium under the leadership of Anton Kathrein (personally liable partner of Kathrein Werke KG ) due to the unsatisfactory development of the company .

At the end of June 2000, the company's headquarters were relocated from Fürth to neighboring Nuremberg. In 2001 the company achieved sales of 1.281 billion euros, but made a loss of 150 million euros. The banks therefore no longer extended their loans in autumn 2002, and the Grundig Group had to file for bankruptcy on April 14, 2003 .

At the end of the 1980s, Grundig AG still had over 28,000 employees. In 2003 the company only had around 3,500 employees. The high expenditures for company pension schemes represented a crucial problem in the negotiations for a potential investor.

The shareholders in Grundig AG were BEB (Bayerische Elektronik-Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG), consisting of Kathrein , Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale, Bayerischer Sparkassen- und Giroverband, Unicredit Bank and Bayerische Landesbank für Aufbaufinanzierung.

Remains and spin-offs from 2004

In January 2004, the Home Intermedia System (HIS) division was taken over by the Turkish electronics manufacturer Beko Elektronik, a subsidiary of Koç Holding , and the British company Alba Radio for a purchase price of around 80 million euros. After trying to become a leading brand again in Germany and Europe with products “designed and developed in Germany”, the development department in Nuremberg was closed at the end of 2008 and another 450 employees were laid off at Grundig Elektronik in Istanbul. Since then, Grundig Intermedia , which remained in Nuremberg , has been produced in Istanbul at Beko and partly in Asia by external companies.

In October 2006 and January 2007, two own production lines for LCD televisions of the Grundig brand were put into operation at Beko Elektronik in Istanbul. On December 18, 2007, the Turkish Beko Elektronik also took over 50 percent of the shares of Alba Radio in Grundig Multimedia BV, the parent company of Grundig Intermedia based in Nuremberg. Beko Elektronik changed its name to Grundig Elektronik in 2008 , but was completely taken over in 2009 by the household appliance manufacturer Arçelik , in which the Koç Group is a majority shareholder, whereby Arçelik has held the Grundig brand rights ever since. Sales from the sale of "Grundig" brand products in German-speaking countries have grown steadily since then, and the brand has firmly established itself again in Germany in the area of ​​medium-priced television sets.

The office equipment division will be continued independently by Grundig Business Systems. The former Grundig Car InterMedia System division was taken over by Delphi Corporation on November 17, 2003 . In addition to the areas of car radio, the product range also includes onboard units for toll collection systems ( Toll Collect ). On May 1, 2004 Grundig SAT Systems (GSS) GmbH was founded as a management buy-out . She took over the activities of the former Grundig division “head-end stations and satellite systems”.

In April 2016, the Turkish Arçelik group announced that Grundig would finally leave its home region of Nuremberg / Fürth and move to Neu-Isenburg , where Beko Deutschland GmbH is also based. At that time, Grundig still had 72 employees in Nuremberg.

In 2013, Grundig Intermedia GmbH said it made the transition from consumer electronics to "home electronics" (entertainment electronics and household appliances) and is currently the only European full-range supplier. Marketing, sales, product and quality management as well as logistics and service for the German market are located in Neu-Isenburg. Grundig products are allegedly mainly produced in Europe and sold in over 65 countries around the world, currently 1000 (according to other information: 1600) employees are employed.

Products

The core products of Grundig AG included consumer electronics devices (e.g. radios , television sets , tape recorders , video recorders , hi-fi systems ), video surveillance and intrusion alarm systems (formerly Grundig electronics GmbH), measurement technology, car radios , satellite receivers, etc., later also small electrical devices (e.g. razors , hair clippers, hair dryers ) and office electronics (e.g. dictation machines ).

  • Heinzelmann radio kit (from 1945)

  • Microphone (around 1955)

  • Radio-television combination Zauberspiegel 348 (1957)

  • TK-1 Grundig portable tape recorder (1960)

  • Tape case TK 42 (around 1962)

  • RF160 stereo

  • C 100 for DC-International cassettes (1965)

  • Milli voltmeter for alternating voltage

  • Portable radio "melody boy 400" (around 1971)

  • World receiver “Satellite 2100” with several shortwave ranges

  • Radio recorder C 4000 Automatic (1970s)

  • C 6200 radio recorder (1970s)

  • Complete system HiFi Studio RPC 200, rated power 2 × 24 W, (1977–1979)

  • Cassette recorder "C350 Automatic" (1979)

  • Tele Pilot 8 television remote control (1977)

  • Portable color television with remote control, Super Color 1832 IT (1981)

  • professional portable and editable VCR video recorder from 1982 Grundig electronic VCR 621

    Professional portable and editable VCR video recorder VCR 621, (case opened; 1982)

  • Cassette deck
    CF 5000-2 (around 1982)

  • VHS recorder VS 265 RC (after 1984)

  • VHS camera S-VS180

  • Fine Arts DAT recorder 9009 (1987–1990)

  • Fine Arts T-9000 (tuner, 1987-1991)

  • Surround HIFI system Space Fidelity PA3 (left) PA6 (right) (1995)

  • Beard hair trimmer

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Grundig  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Current
history

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Uwe Ritzer: Grundig says goodbye to Nuremberg In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of April 11, 2016, p. 33.
  2. ↑ a b Stephan Maurer: One year after the Grundig bankruptcy. (No longer available online.) In: Stern.de . June 27, 2004, archived from the original on December 26, 2013 ; Retrieved July 26, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Alexander Mayer: Grundig and the economic miracle. Work worlds series, Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-305-3 , pp. 7 f., 11 f.
  4. ↑ Alexander Mayer: Grundig and the economic miracle. Working worlds series, Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-305-3 , p. 8.
  5. ^ Stephan Maurer: 100 years of Max Grundig: Pioneer of the economic miracle. stern.de , May 7, 2008, accessed July 26, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Hans Knoll: Origins of the radio kit "Heinzelmann", p. 14. In: Rundfunk und Museum. Magazine of the Rundfunkmuseum der Stadt Fürth , issue 71, December 2009, pp. 9–16.
  7. ↑ Alexander Mayer: Grundig and the economic miracle. Work worlds series, Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-305-3 , pp. 9, 17 ff.
  8. ↑ See e.g. B. Nürnberger Nachrichten v. September 28, 1951, p. 3: "Television premiere in Fürth"; the station broadcasted daily at 11, 14 a.m. 4 p.m. from a fictional film that was shot in Nuremberg a. Fürth could be received.
  9. ↑ Alexander Mayer: Grundig and the economic miracle. Work worlds series, Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-305-3 , pp. 9, 17 ff.
  10. ↑ Alexander Mayer: Grundig and the economic miracle. Work worlds series, Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-305-3 , pp. 9, 71 ff, 121 ff.
  11. ↑ Who is who? The German who's who. Founded by Walter Habel. Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. 24th edition. Schmidt Römhild, Lübeck 1985, ISBN 3-7950-2005-0 , p. 407.
  12. ↑ Alexander Mayer: Grundig and the economic miracle. Work worlds series, Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-305-3 , p. 9 f.
  13. ↑ Out of Control , In: Der Spiegel 9/1985 , accessed on September 21, 2015.
  14. ↑ Alexander Mayer: Grundig and the economic miracle. Work worlds series, Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-305-3 , p. 10.
  15. ↑ Grundig files for bankruptcy. Computerwoche , April 14, 2003, accessed July 26, 2013 .
  16. ↑ Thiemo Heeg: Grundig is back. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 29, 2012, accessed on November 21, 2013 .
  17. ^ Farewell to Nuremberg: Grundig TV leaves the region . In: Nordbayern.de from April 7, 2016.
  18. ↑ About Grundig (accessed: June 29, 2020); Note: the information on the employment figures differ in the source depending on the subpage.
  19. ↑ a b hifiengine.com, 2006-2020, Grundig Fine Arts , accessed on May 19, 2020.