Hirschmann (company)
| Hirschmann GmbH
|
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1924 |
| resolution | 2004 |
| Seat | Neckartenzlingen |
| Number of employees | 1600 (2005) |
| Branch | Antenna technology |
The Richard Hirschmann GmbH & Co. , based in Neckartenzlingen was until its dissolution in 2004 an established manufacturer of antenna technology in Germany - both in transmission and in the reception area. Today there are three independent companies that have emerged from it and produce communications technology products under the Hirschmann brand name .
history
The engineer Richard Hirschmann (1894–1974) laid the foundation stone for the company in 1924 with a simple invention, the banana plug .
From 1933 the Esslingen- based company produced indoor antennas for radio reception, followed by car antennas in 1939 and VHF and television antennas in 1951. In 1956 the Neckartenzlingen plant was opened, which later became the company's headquarters. With the production of television converters , in addition to reception technology in 1964, transmission technology was also opened up as a market. In the 1960s and 1970s, branches were established in Austria, France, South Africa, Holland, Spain, the USA and Kuwait.
The founder Richard Hirschmann was socially committed and initiated the construction of an ice rink in Esslingen and the construction of a sports hall in Neckartenzlingen. He was co-founder and senator of the Technical Academy Esslingen and honorary senator of the University of Stuttgart . The Richard Hirschmann Foundation, which he set up in 1969, still promotes the next generation in communications and high-frequency technology. In his honor, the Esslinger Ottilienstraße was renamed Richard-Hirschmann-Straße in 1974.
In 1984 the twenty-fifth millionth television antenna was sold, and in 1985 Hirschmann began producing “satellite dishes”. From 1995, transmission and reception technology was produced for the digital transmission standards DVB and DAB .
In 1997, Hirschmann was taken over by Rheinmetall , which the company sold to the English investor Hg Capital in 2004 . This divided Hirschmann into the three companies Hirschmann Multimedia Electronics GmbH (HME), Hirschmann Automation and Control GmbH (HAC) and Hirschmann Car Communication GmbH (HCC). There was a massive downsizing - in 1995 Hirschmann had around 3,500 employees worldwide, in 2005 it was only around 1,600.
HME, which comprised the core business of antenna technology, was sold to the Danish company Triax in August 2005, from which the Hirschmann brand has continued to operate in Germany for more than 10 years, most recently with identical devices being sold under both the Hischmann and Triax brands - meanwhile (2018) the Hirschmann brand is only present in a few markets (e.g. the Netherlands). HAC was taken over by the US company Belden in February 2007 , HCC was bought by the four managing directors in April 2007 and taken over by VOXX International in February 2012 . The product line and brand Hirschmann Test & Measurement , which today still includes banana plugs in addition to other products from the field of test leads and test accessories, were sold to SKS Kontakttechnik GmbH in 2006 and are continued under the brand name there.
Products
In the consumer sector, the company became known for a number of reception antennas that had “Zifa” as part of their name - “Zifa” is an abbreviation for “Zimmer-Fernseh-Antenne” and has been used from the beginning of the name to modern times .
A widely known product at the end of the 1950s and in the following years was the “Zifa 100” model, which was nicknamed “Dragonfly” because of its appearance and was a popular indoor receiving antenna for the emerging television offerings. The “Libelle” had a flexible “ gooseneck ” and was suitable for wall mounting in addition to the typical standing position.
literature
- Walter Stäbler: Richard Hirschmann. A Swabian entrepreneur and his company in Neckartenzlingen. Edited by the Neckartenzlinger Ortsgeschichte (INO) e. V., Neckartenzlingen 2017 (Volume 11 of the Neckartenzlingen history sheets)
