Henry Pels

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Henry Pels (born June 6, 1865 in Hamburg , † April 1, 1931 in Berlin ) was a German entrepreneur in the mechanical engineering industry.

Life

Pels grew up in Hamburg as the son of a Jewish businessman . After attending secondary school in Altona , he completed a commercial apprenticeship at Louis Freund in Hamburg. In 1885 he joined the Berlin machine factory Arthur Koppel , received power of attorney after just two months and was given a trip to North and South America to set up branches there. In 1892 he returned to Hamburg and founded his own company under the company Henry Pels & Co. for trading in machine tools, which he relocated to Berlin in 1894.

In 1902, together with the machine works JA John in Erfurt, for which he had previously been the sole agent, he founded the Berlin-Erfurt machine works Henry Pels & Co. with its headquarters in Berlin-Borsigwalde . The factory manufactured sheet metal working machines for the non-cutting forming of rolled steel sheets , which were in particular demand from the electrical industry . Pels thus became a pioneer in German forming technology and founded a new branch of industry. Until the First World War , the factory in the industrial suburb of Ilversgehofen in the north of Erfurt , which was incorporated in 1911, produced scissors, punching machines and combined machines and quickly developed into a large manufacturer of metal forming machines at its location. They had dozens of patents on steel rivet designs and the steel plate construction of their forming machines gave them a major competitive advantage. The sales network included branches in Paris , Brussels , Milan , London , New York and Stockholm . 15 European countries as well as Africa, America, Australia and Asia were supplied. Over 90 percent of the products were exported. During the First World War, Pels delivered trucks designed by Joseph Vollmer .

After the war, Pels converted the company into a stock corporation in 1922 , which he managed as sole director. The automotive industry was added as a new major customer in 1924 . After using John's scissors, bending and punching machines, he began building 500 t eccentric presses for punching, cutting and trimming. In the following years he had large extensions built. At the same time, the workforce grew. In 1929 he built billet and billet shears for the automotive industry with such clean cuts that the sections could also be used for drop forgings or pressed parts.

The company also owes its long-lasting stability to major orders from the young Soviet Union , which was to quickly develop into a modern industrial state. Pels became chairman of a German-Russian company in the mechanical engineering industry. In addition, he was chairman of several professional associations.

In January 1931 there were bloody riots on strike with one death, for which the KPD or the strike leadership close to it was held responsible. Even the social democratic newspaper “ Tribüne ” from Erfurt spoke of a “Moscow crime in Erfurt-Nord”.

Henry Pels died in Berlin on April 1, 1931, his wife shortly after him.

aftermath

The fate of his descendants

His only son died as a German officer in the First World War. His daughter Hanna (Johanna) became the sole heir. She had married the Jewish doctor Fritz Heine from Berlin, who was also a participant in the World War. He represented his wife, who was the majority shareholder until 1936, on the company's supervisory board . During the Nazi era , the Heine couple considered emigrating , but like many felt themselves in their position as Germans and trusted that the Nazi ghost would soon pass. Her son emigrated, however, and her daughter was brought to Great Britain with the help of the Berlin pastor Gruber . After the Wannsee Conference , the parents were deported on the second Berlin Jewish transport from the Grunewald train station to the Litzmannstadt ghetto , located in the Generalgouvernement , and murdered in the Kulmhof extermination camp on July 3, 1944, during the dissolution of the ghetto . Since they had left the Reich territory in this way, the Reich flight tax was levied and the remaining assets were confiscated.

Umformtechnik Erfurt

The raw parts warehouse in 1954
The factory premises in 1971

In 1936 the family's shares were withdrawn as “Jewish property” by the German Reich. The "Aryanized" plant was transferred to the Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabrik AG , which belongs to the Quandt group , and took part in the war production. For this purpose, the workforce was increased to over 1000 people. The company survived the war and had to deliver products to the USSR as reparations under the Soviet occupation .

In 1954 the company became VEB Pressen- und Scherenbau Henry Pels , and later it traded as VEB Umformtechnik Erfurt . Several other companies were attached to this company. In 1970 the company became the centerpiece of the newly founded Combine Umformtechnik Erfurt " Herbert_Warnke ", one of the four combines of the VVB Machine Tools and Tools (WMW) . With up to 19,000 employees, including around 5,000 employees in the Erfurt parent company, it was one of the most important companies in Thuringia and also supplied automobile manufacturers such as Volkswagen AG in western Germany.

In July 1990 the Combine was dissolved and in Erfurt using the Treuhandanstalt the Forming GmbH founded. In 1994 the company was sold to Škoda AG in Pilsen . Business stabilized again and machines from Erfurt are used in the German automotive industry, but also in Russia, China and Brazil.

In 2001 it was taken over by Müller Weingarten AG in Weingarten , which was bought by Schuler AG six years later . As one of the central production and service locations of the Schuler Group in Europe, the Umformtechnik Erfurt branch manufactures systems for the automotive, supplier, electrical and household appliance industries. The products are delivered to a global customer base. The range of services extends from the manufacture and assembly of various mechanically and hydraulically driven presses to comprehensive services. “Contract manufacturing” also offers services in the area of ​​weldment manufacturing, mechanical processing and assembly as well as commissioning. The production of special pressed parts (outer plate carriers, structural parts for cars, etc.) complements the range of services and skills at the site.

Awards

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Victims database of the Federal Archives Berlin
personal data
SURNAME Pels, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur in the mechanical engineering industry
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1931
Place of death Berlin