Hebmüller

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Hebmüller convertible

The Karosseriewerke Joseph Hebmüller sons , known in short form "body Hebmüller", a manufacturer of vehicle bodies for various automotive brands were. Joseph Hebmüller (born September 29, 1865 in Osznaggern ; † January 2, 1919) took over the bankrupt company of a coach builder in Barmen (now in Wuppertal ) in 1889 and continued it under his name.

history

The beginnings of the company

Joseph Hebmüller came from a farm in the former East Prussia , was a trained wheelwright and first came to Elberfeld (now part of Wuppertal ) as a young man before he found a job with the wagon builder Sauer in Barmen. Sauer went bankrupt, whereupon Hebmüller took over the business on October 18, 1889.

Joseph Hebmüller ran his company as a handcrafted family business with initially around ten employees, and in the following years up to 20 employees. One of the journeymen was Friedrich Ebert , who later became President of the Reich . Hebmüller and his wife Elisabeth born. Fischbacher (born October 10, 1867, † October 7, 1948) had four sons who were trained according to the company's requirements. They became wheelwright, cart blacksmith and saddler , and one received a commercial training.

Beginning of a new era

Opel Kapitän Hebmüller from 1940, of which only two remain

After the company's founder died in 1919, the sons intensified the production of automobile bodies, which had started shortly before. They designed and built bodies, including a sedan for a Fiat chassis and a van body for the Ford T-model . The economic situation developed positively, so that they were able to open Plant II in Wülfrath in 1924 and Plant III in 1936.

The Hebmüller brothers took over Plant II from the financially troubled automobile manufacturer Wilhelm Körting, for whom they had built car bodies. Because of the lower wage level in Wülfrath, this factory became the main manufacturing facility, while repairs were carried out in Barmen. In the 1920s, orders came from Austro-Daimler in Vienna, FN in Belgium and Dürkopp in Bielefeld, among others , who delivered the chassis on which Hebmüller manufactured high-quality bodies, either as individual items or in small series.

Since the 1930s, Hebmüller has also worked for large-scale manufacturers such as Ford and Opel , some of which had their convertibles and open sports cars built in Wülfrath.

The VW Hebmüller Cabriolet

The VW Hebmüller Cabriolet in profile
Elongated rear of the 2 + 2-seater
VW police cabriolet

Probably the best-known product from Hebmüller was a two-seater convertible on the platform of the VW Type 1 , of which 136 examples still existed in 2009. The open four-seater police vehicle, which was also built on the basis of the VW Type 1, is less well known.

In 1948 Hebmüller produced three prototypes of the two-seater convertible with a fully retractable top and an elegantly curved, elongated rear. The Volkswagenwerk ordered 2,000 units of this car, which despite the high price of 7,500.00 DM at the start of series production in 1949 was granted good sales opportunities. In 1950 the price was reduced to 6950.00 DM. The Hebmüller convertible was preferably delivered in two-tone paintwork, black / red or black / ivory. Decorative strips emphasized the stretched line, and the interior fittings met high demands.

Fire disaster and comparison

Instead of the planned 2000 VW convertibles, Hebmüller only produced 696 units, as a major fire on July 23, 1949 destroyed the production facilities. The reconstruction completed in 1951 and the associated modernization of the production facilities exceeded the company's financial strength, because the total financial requirements were not covered by the sum insured and the banks terminated the loans despite the good order situation. As a result, the economic situation deteriorated to such an extent that the company with its more than 700 employees, which also built convertibles for Borgward , Auto Union ( DKW ) and other manufacturers, applied for a settlement in May 1952 and then ceased operations. The Karmann bodywork in Osnabrück then produced twelve or 14 VW Hebmüller convertibles from the remaining stock .

Vidal & Sohn from Hamburg-Harburg leased the plant for around a year , which was then sold to Ford .

The VW Hebmüller Cabriolet as a classic car

The VW Hebmüller Cabriolet is a sought-after vehicle today that achieves significantly higher prices on the classic car market than the standard versions of the Beetle. In 2010, Hebmüller convertibles in excellent condition were quoted used car prices of over 60,000 euros.

literature

  • Dieter Günter, Walter Wolf: Body Hebmüller: Quality and Elegance 1889–1952. 2nd edition, Delius Klasing Verlag, Paderborn 2006, ISBN 3-7688-1705-9 .
  • Etzold: The Beetle ... Vol. II, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-7168-1613-2 .
  • Walter draftsman: VW Beetle convertible: Karman Ghia-Rometsch; 1949–1990 Schrader-Motor-Chronik, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-922617-15-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Apprentices restore Hebmüller convertibles. In: www.focus.de . FOCUS Online, accessed on August 29, 2009 .
  2. ↑ Günter Zink: Oldtimer Catalog No. 24 (2010), Heel Verlag ISBN 978-3-86852-185-6 ; P. 356.