Herbert Kienzle

Herbert Kienzle (born June 3, 1887 in Schwenningen ; † March 20, 1954 in Villingen ) was a German entrepreneur .

Life

Herbert Kienzle was born on June 3, 1887, the third child of the watch manufacturer Jakob Kienzle and his wife Agathe (née Schlenker). His parents' house was in Schwenningen am Neckar, an up-and-coming town back then, in the height of industrialization. It was mainly shaped by the important watch industry. After graduating from high school, in 1907 he began studying mechanical and electrical engineering at the Technical University of Stuttgart , which he obtained in 1911 with a diploma and later with a doctorate in engineering. completed. His doctoral thesis dealt with automation technology for lathes.

After graduating, he gained experience in the USA for several years. In 1917 the entry of the USA into the First World War prevented him from returning to Germany. After the end of the war, he and his brothers Christian and Hellmut took over the management of their father's company, Kienzle Uhrenfabriken, in Schwenningen . Herbert Kienzle was initially in charge of technical management and, after Christian's death, was in charge of overall management.

In 1922 he married the Leipzig entrepreneur daughter Charlotte Leistner. The couple had three children together: their daughter Margrit (* 1923) and sons Jochen (1925–2002) and Herbert (1931–1997).

Founder of Kienzle Apparate GmbH

In 1928/29 Kienzle founded the independent company Kienzle Taxameter und Apparate AG (later Kienzle Apparate GmbH ) in the neighboring village of Villingen. The company continued the business with control instruments for the automotive sector started by the watch factory. He resigned from his position on the board of directors at Kienzle Uhrenfabriken. After a deep crisis as a result of the Great Depression in 1929, Kienzle Apparate experienced a first boom in the Nazi war economy and a second, sustained rise in the post-war period to become a major German high-tech industrial company. After Kienzle's early death in 1954, the family business was continued by his two sons.

Work and meaning

Kienzle was an important pioneering entrepreneur in the precision engineering industry in southwest Germany. He recognized the importance of Taylorist methods for modern factory production early on, and saw the impending automobilization and its importance for the economy and society early on. He developed innovative products and business models for both business areas. Together with his chief developer Paul Riegger, he is responsible for the invention and success of the tachograph . In the post-war period he and his company set the course for a successful entry into the market for office machines.

literature

• Armin Müller: Kienzle. A German industrial company in the 20th century , 2nd edition, Franz Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-515-10669-6 .
• Armin Müller: Herbert Kienzle. Motor of a success story , in: Südkurier, June 1, 2012.
• Hans Christoph Craf von Seherr-Thoß:  Kienzle, Herbert. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1977, ISBN 3-428-00192-3 , p. 588 f. ( Digitized version ).