Hasse & Wrede

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Hasse & Wrede GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1897
Seat Berlin , Germany
management Thierry Cabon
Number of employees 300
Branch Vibration technology
Website www.hassewrede.de

Company typeface of Carl Hasse & Wrede GmbH, around 1921

The Hasse & Wrede GmbH, based in Berlin is a manufacturer of torsional vibration dampers for diesel engines and is part of the Knorr-Bremse Corporation.

history

From the foundation to the move to Marzahn

The machine tool factory Carl Hasse & Wrede, founded in 1897 by the businessman Carl Hasse in Berlin-Neukölln , was converted from an open trading company into a GmbH in 1921 . The company specialized in equipping metalworking companies with complete machine arsenals. It initially supplied special machines for sewing machine and bicycle factories, and later for armaments factories . In 1938 a model factory was put into operation in Berlin-Britz , and branches were also maintained in Berlin-Pankow and Berlin-Wedding . During the Second World War , at the instigation of the Army High Command , the company was expanded into the largest special machine tool factory in Europe and in 1941/42 moved into a newly built plant in Berlin-Marzahn .

The factory in the Third Reich

There were also two forced labor camps on the new factory premises in Marzahn (then Berliner Chaussee , today Georg-Knorr-Straße). Of the approximately 4,000 Hasse & Wrede employees here, around a third were prisoners of war and forced laborers from Western and Eastern Europe who had to work in arms production. Among the forced laborers, a small resistance group formed under the leadership of the communist Werner Goethert , which was also connected to the group around Anton Saefkow . Working slowly, warning against informers and collecting food and clothing for those persecuted in hiding were sufficient for their activity.

The tool factory after the Second World War

After the dismantling and expropriation by the Soviet occupying power, Carl Hasse & Wrede GmbH resumed operations in Berlin-Britz . In addition to machine tools, torsional vibration dampers for diesel engines were also manufactured under license from 1955 . 1972 began its own development work in this area, in which the company later exclusively specialized. Machine tool manufacturing was discontinued in 1985.

The factories in Berlin-Marzahn, on the other hand, became public property, and they became the Marzahn machine tool factory , which soon returned its systems abroad.

Partial view of the buildings in Berlin-Marzahn

With the turnaround , the large operation was wound up. The brick buildings, which are now under monument protection, stood empty for a few years. The main Berlin plant moved back to its previous location in Berlin-Marzahn in 2001. Hasse & Wrede was now a subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse AG and had the property renovated. Parts for diesel engines were made here. In February 2017, the Knorr Group announced that it wanted to close the last German location of Hasse & Wrede because "the market has changed and production in Marzahn does not make economic sense". Parts production was to be relocated to Liberec in the Czech Republic . After protests by the 109 workers affected by unemployment and after negotiations between the group management and the works council, it was announced in December 2017 that the location on Georg-Knorr-Straße should be retained.

In 2000, Hasse & Wrede opened an assembly plant in the USA, and torsional vibration dampers have been produced in China as part of a joint venture since 2005 .

Administrative law

As a result of equity investments, Hasse & Wrede has been part of the Knorr-Bremse Group since 1921. After the merger of Carl Hasse & Wrede GmbH with Knorr-Bremse AG in 1988, Hasse & Wrede GmbH was founded in 1994 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse AG.

literature

  • Helmut Engel (Ed.): Berlin-Marzahn location. Historical Knorr-Bremse. Industrial complex in transition. Berlin 2001
  • Manfred Pohl: Safety on rails and roads. The history of Knorr-Bremse AG. (English edition: Safety First by Road and Rail. The History of Knorr-Bremse AG.) Munich 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Imprint
  2. ^ Career at Knorr-Bremse
  3. ^ Hans-Rainer Sandvoss : Resistance in Lichtenberg and Friedrichshain . Published by the German Resistance Memorial Center 1998; P. 177f: Hasse & Wrede
  4. Jochen Knoblach: Knorr-Bremse stops relocation . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 15, 2017, p. 12.