Offenbach's industrial history

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The industrial history of Offenbach's start at the end of the 17th century with the arrival of French religious refugees. The liberal economic policy of the governments of Hessen-Darmstadt favored the emergence, settlement and development of industrial sectors, especially the metalworking, chemical, leather goods and printing industries. From this time, some industrial evidence has been preserved in Offenbach up to the present day. Today the city is an important service center and one of ten regional centers in the state of Hesse .

Beginnings

Privilege decree of 1705 by Count Johann Philipp von Isenburg-Offenbach for the Huguenots in Offenbach am Main

The industrial history of Offenbach am Main begins with a decree of Count Johann Philipp von Isenburg-Offenbach in 1705 , with which he had legalized the settlement of Huguenots in the city, which had already begun years before , and granted the new citizens with privileges. Offenbach was still struggling with the catastrophic consequences of the Thirty Years' War and tried to increase its attractiveness through targeted protection. Before that time Offenbach was known as a garden city, and even in the city center there were plots with large orchards and vegetable gardens. The only products of supraregional importance were the so-called Offenbach faience .

Wagenfabrik Dick & Kirschten, manufacturer of luxury and utility carriages around 1876

In order to avoid conflicts with the established professions, the French religious refugees were forbidden to work in agriculture or crafts. As a result, these manufacturers founded small businesses with their first industrial approaches. Products made of silk, chewing tobacco, snuff, jewelry boxes and other items of high demand were made. Notable companies from this era are the music publishing and sheet music printing company Johann André , the string factory Pirazzi , the car factory Dick & Kirschten and the tobacco factories of the families Bernard and d'Orville .

The economic policy of the neighboring city of Frankfurt was still regulated in the 18th century by class law, guilds and craft guilds, and the founding of new manufactories was deliberately made more difficult and hindered. Frankfurt traders and craftsmen viewed these new businesses as competition and tried to prevent them from settling in the city. Company founders therefore gladly moved to the more liberal Offenbach. The extensive freedom of trade and the convenient location contributed significantly to the industrial development of the city.

19th century

Automobile from Dick & Kirschten

The former village of Offenbach was quickly expanded into a factory town. The infrastructure was adapted to the new requirements, the Main harbor built, the freight and main station built and the road network expanded. Other manufacturing companies settled here. However, there were no designated industrial areas, as a result, companies also produced in the city center and influenced the cityscape and the quality of living. Environmentally harmful production processes, as was common in the chemical industry at the time, and space problems sometimes forced people to relocate to the outskirts of Offenbach - the first industrial areas emerged. The great need for workers let Offenbach grow, the city and the communities in the district multiplied their population. Because of the commuters to Offenbach, the railway lines to Heusenstamm and Dietzenbach were built and the railway lines to Neu-Isenburg and Langen were expanded. In 1871 there were 236 factories in the Offenbach urban area, 58 of which produced leather goods, 16 steel goods, 12 trimmings , 9 felt goods and hats and 8 cigars. There were also 11 lithographic establishments and printing works, as well as 10 stone distilleries in Offenbach. The leather goods industry with its suppliers comprised almost 6000 jobs and was thus the most important branch of industry in the city in this era. In 1879 the Hessian State Trade Exhibition took place in Offenbach in 1879 .

20th century

The administration building Fa. Heyne was from Hugo Eberhardt designed
The Goldpfeil building

Offenbach was meanwhile the leading manufacturing industrial center in southern Hesse. Tens of thousands of jobs were created. However, this development also increased susceptibility to economic and political crises. Before and during the First World War, armaments were also produced. After the boom, the immediate consequences of the war were corporate bankruptcies and high unemployment. Political parties began to influence the working or unemployed workers. A positive example is the establishment of the Frischauf bicycle factory by a cooperative close to the democratic SPD . Offenbach has seen itself as a leather goods town since 1910, although this branch of industry had meanwhile rather migrated to the Offenbach area.

The beginning of the National Socialist takeover of power in 1933 marked a turning point in Offenbach's industrial history. Jewish company owners and cooperatives were expropriated, the confiscated companies sold, restructured and the workforce brought into line. Production was again aligned with the needs of the armaments industry. During the Second World War , production was sustained mainly with slave labor and women.

The post-war period brought a greater demand for goods in all areas, even if leather goods were the main product of the city in the public perception. A number of new leather goods factories emerged, especially in the region. Offenbach itself is slowly beginning to establish itself as a service center. As early as the 1970s Offenbach was one of the first cities to be confronted with structural change, as the important areas of leather goods and electronics were relocated to the Far East. The focus on services was strengthened, so that the structural change was already completed in the 1990s. Today Offenbach is an important service center in the Rhine-Main area.

The last traditional businesses often specialized in high-quality goods, while service and research companies increasingly settled in the city.

21st century

The city of Offenbach has developed from the original factory town into a city of services. Some factory buildings of former factories have been preserved and converted into offices (often for the design and advertising area), such as the Hassia factory and the Heyne factory . Banks, insurance companies and sales companies also settled here. Companies such as Groupe SEB (formerly Rowenta ), Areva and Siemens Power Generation (formerly Kraftwerk Union ) benefit from Offenbach's central location and have expanded their local service activities while production has long been relocated. At the end of 2008, EganaGoldpfeil went into bankruptcy with the traditional leather goods brand Goldpfeil , and the Comtesse brand became independent.

Medium-sized companies such as Kappus (soaps) or Pirazzi (musical strings and surgical sewing material) manufacture and sell quality goods and are a living part of Offenbach's industrial history.

Important companies in Offenbach's industrial history

Many Offenbach companies have since been renamed, insolvent, sold or merged into other companies and groups. Nevertheless, some have survived to this day and testify to Offenbach's formerly outstanding importance as a factory town in Hesse.

Chemical companies

Company in the metal processing industry

Company in the leather processing industry

Companies in the printing industry

other companies

literature

  • Volkshochschule Offenbach (ed.): Offenbach what a city , CoCon publishing house, ISBN 978-3-937774-05-3
  • Alfred Kurt: City and district of Offenbach in history , Bintz-Verlag GmbH, Offenbach am Main 1998, ISBN 3-87079-009-1

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