Leobersdorfer machine factory

Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik GmbH
legal form	GmbH
founding	1850
Seat	Leobersdorf
management	Ernst Huttar ( CTO ), Ronald Elgert ( CEO )
Number of employees	380
sales	76 million euros
Branch	Plant construction
Website	lmf.at

The Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik (LMF) is an old Austrian machine factory in Leobersdorf , Lower Austria , which has been mainly owned by Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor Co. Ltd. since 2016. is, a company based in Quzhou, China. The company is run in the form of a GmbH . In 2012 the company generated over € 76 million with 380 employees. As a global company, the company also has representative offices on all continents.

Products

The company produces tailor-made high pressure compressors for the petroleum, natural gas and chemical industries and sells them worldwide. The main areas of application are:

• Seismic exploration at sea for the supply of air guns with compressed air for oil and gas searches
• Leak testing of natural gas pipelines
• Natural gas pumping systems
• Natural gas filling station systems
• Industrial applications such as the compression of gases for transport in compressed air cylinders and the compressed air supply for blow molding (PET)
• Large plants with compressors according to API standards in the petrochemical industry

history

manual casting

Restoration of the Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik , Südbahnstraße 23 (photo: 1980)

The company was founded in Leobersdorf in 1850. The founder was Josef Berger, who was originally a casting master at the Brück'schen Eisenwerke in Fünfkirchen . First he leased the Hödel'sche foundry and machine factory in Hirtenberg , before setting up his own factory in the immediate vicinity in Leobersdorf with a foundry, a finishing workshop , a boiler house and a civil servants' house between 1850 and 1853. The initial equipment consisted of two rotary cranes , two cupola furnaces , two crucible furnaces for bronze casting , three lathes , five vices for a fireplace and a steam engine with an output of 18 kW (25 hp ). Before he could start production, however, he died in 1853, so that his wife and her brother-in-law Josef Hurtz, owners of a privileged company for wood gilding in Vienna-Alsergrund and various technical patents, had to take over the company. In the years 1856/1857 the factory was expanded to include a mechanical workshop, a boiler shop and horse stables, and a civil servants' house was built across from the factory . The delivery program now included raw castings, transmissions , equipment for brickworks , mills , sugar factories , rolling mills and railway companies , as well as presses , steam boilers , small steam engines and projectiles for military purposes.

In 1859 Josef Hurtz († February 10, 1865 in Leobersdorf), as the manager of the Leobersdorfer company, was suspected of covering up the disappearance of his brother, Karl. Karl Hurtz had taken over the management of the Viennese company from Josef. At the time of Karl's departure, malversations were discovered in the store for which Josef was responsible financially. Months after Karl's disappearance was in Galician Rzeszów whose dismembered, discovered in a travel suitcase packed corpse to the circle for the Vienna North Station could elicit - and subsequently the operation associated murderer.

1871, the company became the property of Jakob Neumann : on (February 1, 1876 Leobersdorfer machinery factory and iron foundry J. Neumann in 1880 to patent proprietor of improvements,) hot air engines and boilers Julius Hock ( . Julius Hock and Comp ) or Allgemeine Depositenbank and finally in 1882 into the property of the financier Jakob Rappaport (1840–1886). His heirs sold the company with around 200 employees in 1887 to the Hungarian company Ganz & Comp. under András Mechwart .

Pelton turbine

With this takeover, the modernization and expansion of the plant began. The Austro-Hungarian War Ministry issued the first orders for armored domes . The construction of water turbines was started as a new line of business . This made the Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik the first Austrian turbine company. Mainly axial flow Jonval and Girard turbines were built , also combined as double - ring turbines , which were later replaced by the more modern Francis and Pelton turbines . Some of the turbines produced in the Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik can still be seen in operation on the Wiener Neustädter Canal today.

In 1889 the second workers 'house, a workers' dining room and a bathing establishment were built . Further additions and modifications formed the basis for the manufacture of railway wheels . Until 1891 there was a significant development of the location. New residential buildings for the employees were built, as well as a civil servants 'house, a master house and workers' houses. A factory doctor was hired, a rescue station, an in-house health insurance company, a factory fire brigade and a kindergarten were established. Today's Spitalgasse in Siebenhaus, a district of Leobersdorf, is reminiscent of the workers' hospital built in 1892. In 1893/94, a factory restoration and another civil servants' residence were built on Südbahnstrasse, Leobersdorf and Siebenhaus.

The first diesel engine

In 1896/97 the plant was extended to the right bank of the flood ditch. At the same time, the manufacture of chilled cast iron wheels based on the model of the Griffin works, Buffalo (USA), as well as electric motors , dynamos and the switchgear required for this, began . The industrial tracks between the plant and the train station were laid. At that time, 480 workers and 100 salaried employees were already employed in the plant. On December 22nd, 1897, Südbahnstraße was illuminated electrically for the first time from the Leobersdorfer machine factory. Around 1900 the world-famous Munich engineer Rudolf Diesel temporarily came to the plant to introduce the diesel engine named after him . Five years later, Austria's first diesel engines were built in Leobersdorf, as well as the first Austrian diesel engines for ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy . From 1901 to 1903 Viktor Kaplan worked in the factory, where he designed an improved version of a diesel engine. Under the direction of Ganz & Comp. the company recorded a steady upswing. At the turn of the century, up to 800 people were employed, before the beginning of the First World War it was even 1,200. In 1906 the company was converted into a public limited company. At that time, the company had its own branches in Vienna and Klagenfurt .

Even after the end of the war, when Hungary and Austria split up into two separate states, the parent company remained the majority owner. In the interwar period, the number of employees fell again to around 500. In 1929, the share capital was also reduced to one sixth.

After joining Germany, the German Weserhütte took over the entire share capital and the workforce grew again to 1,500 employees. During the war, aircraft parts and ammunition were manufactured for the nearby Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke .

After the Second World War , the Soviet USIA took over the administration. After the conclusion of the State Treaty , the company was completely closed.

In 1956, Egon Strager acquired the closed factory premises and relocated his two existing plants from Vienna and Vösendorf to Leobersdorf. Strager again converted the company into an AG and withdrew in 1963. Babcock & Wilcox took over his share capital . Even the new owner did not manage to achieve the company's original size. The number of employees ranged between 200 and 300 people in the 1970s.

In 2004, the Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik was bought by Invest Equity after it had been owned by the Austro-American Gerhard Andlinger since 1998 . In April 2016, 95.5% of the Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik was acquired by the Chinese Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor Co. Ltd. via LMF Unternehmensbeteiligungs GmbH. accepted.

Technical milestones

• 1887 The company Ganz & Co. is the first Austrian turbine construction company.
• 1896/1897 Rudolf Diesel visits the factory to introduce the diesel engine ; five years later, Austria's first diesel engines are built in Leobersdorf.
• 1901 On the 25th, Viktor Kaplan joined the company as a designer and worked on improving diesel engines.
• 1905 Start of serial production of diesel engines, the export quota (outside the monarchy ) is 80%.
• 1925 Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik AG supplies Pelton turbines with 8,000 hp each for the Spullersee railway power station in Vorarlberg .
• 1956 The first air and gas compressors are built.
• 1967 Construction of industrial oil / gas firing systems .
• 1972 Production of compressors up to 350 bar.
• 1978/1979 Construction and delivery of the first high-pressure composite systems for seismic exploration.
• 1983 Delivery of the first natural gas filling station.
• 1985 The first process gas compressors are introduced to the market.
• 1988 LMF introduces the first oil-free compressors for ( PET ) applications.
• 1993 Development of speed-controlled compressors.
• 2000 Development of high-speed compressors in boxer design.
• 2002 Expansion of the range of process gas compressors to 3 megawatts.
• 2003 The largest B 252 process gas compressors to date are delivered.
• 2004 Invest Equity buys LMF AG.
• 2007 Equita converts this into a GesmbH und Co. KG.
• 2008 Acquisition of SMGas (CNG compressor producer) in Buenos Aires (Argentina).
• 2009 The LMF has 506 employees, including 26 apprentices including external staff.
• 2010 Expansion of the range of process gas compressors to 6 megawatts.
• 2010 The 160th anniversary of the LMF is celebrated with an exhibition.
• 2012 The sister plant in Buenos Aires has to be closed for economic reasons.

Personalities

• Hans Baudisch (1881–1948), engineer and technician, was employed at times

literature

• Julius Jablanzy: The workers' gardens of the Leobersdorfer machine factory by Ganz & Comp. Gerold, Vienna 1890, OBV .
• The smoke-consuming furnace from Ganz & Ko. in Leobersdorf. In: Oesterreichische Zeitschrift für Berg- und Hüttenwesen . No. 29/1904 (Volume II), OBV , p. 386 ff.
• Alois Schabes: The Leobersdorf market - from the oldest time to the present. Market town of Leobersdorf, Leobersdorf 1976, OBV .
• Josef Hauer (among others): The community of Schönau an der Triesting and its districts in the past and present. 1st edition, community Schönau an der Triesting, Schönau an der Triesting 1979, OBV .
• Franz Mathis : Big Business in Austria. Volume 1: Brief descriptions of large Austrian companies. Verlag für Geschichte und Politik (inter alia), Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-486-53771-7 , pp. 185 f. - Full text online .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Company profile on the website of the TU Wien ( Memento of the original from August 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed June 9, 2010. 
2. ↑ Green Kaishan. Retrieved July 23, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Imprint ( Memento of the original dated October 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed August 21, 2014. 
4. ^ Correspondence messages. Vienna, February. The corpse in the suitcase . In: Morgenblatt for educated readers . Volume 54.1860. Cotta, Stuttgart / Munich 1860, pp. 209 ff. - Online .
5. ↑ Announcement. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 4116/1876, February 10, 1876, p. 9, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). .
6. ↑ Germans in Hungary ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 941 kB) dzm-museum.de; Retrieved March 6, 2009 
7. ↑ Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabriks-Akt.-Ges. Leobersdorf near Vienna. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 17965/1914, August 30, 1914, p. 23. (Online at ANNO ). .
8. ^ The order for the southern railway from Ganz & Comp .. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 13758/1902, December 14, 1902, p. 16, center left. (Online at ANNO ). .
9. ^ Separation of the Austrian company from Ganz & Comp. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 15156/1906, October 31, 1906, p. 16, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). .
10. ↑ Secret projects. At ( Memento of the original from February 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Leobersdorfer machines go to Quandt-Holding . In: Wirtschaftsblatt , August 16, 2007; Retrieved March 6, 2009.
12. ↑ Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik generates 34.5 million euros  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated March 1, 2004, accessed March 6, 2009.  
13. ↑ Kaishan Compressor purchases 95.5% stake in Austrian energy firm LMF UB. Retrieved July 23, 2019 . 
14. ^ LMF Unternehmensbeteiligungs GmbH, Leobersdorf, Lower Austria. Retrieved July 23, 2019 . 
15. ^ Web service of the City of Vienna from August 1959, accessed on March 6, 2009.

Remarks

1. ↑ Between May 20 and June 7, 1887, attempts to shoot against armored towers took place on the so-called Felixdorfer Haide (east of Sollenau ) , which proved the Leobersdorfer product to be clearly superior to that produced by Krupp in Essen and which in military circles nourished the hope of future deliveries to be more independent from abroad. - See: Military newspaper. Attempts to shoot against armored turrets in Felixdorf. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 8190/1887, June 16, 1887, p. 6, center right. (Online at ANNO ). .
2. ↑ Siebenhaus is a village in the Dornau cadastral community , which is still part of the Schönau an der Triesting community today. The cadastral municipality of Dornau cuts territorially into the western local area of ​​Leobersdorf and is perceived as a district of Leobersdorf, especially because of its supply-related integration. After the end of the war, Siebenhaus should have been added to the market town of Leobersdorf. - See: From the Triestingtal (...) Leobersdorf. Connection of Siebenhaus to Leobersdorf. In:  Badener Zeitung , No. 27/1940 (LXI. Volume), April 3, 1940, p. 4, top right. (Online at ANNO ). and Hauer (inter alia): The community of Schönau an der Triesting , p. 49.
3. ↑ 2544 Siebenhaus, Spitalgasse 16 (private residential building for decades  ⊙ ). - 300 meters from the next factory residential building, which the hospital identified as a quarantine facility typical of the time (Austrian, outdated / outdated: Kontumaz ).
4. ↑ Production initiated by the works director Julius Gulden, who was born in Hof in Bavaria and came from Ganz -Budapest († February 8, 1899 in Budapest). - See: Miscellaneous. Staff news. (...) Director Julius Gulden . In: Paul Kortz (Red.): Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects . Volume 51.1899. Self-published, Vienna 1899, p. 109. - Text online (PDF; 20.1 MB) .
5. ↑ In those years the company was known for both its technical and social achievements, which was also recognized by the highest authorities: On August 19, 1897, coming from Schloss Schwarzau am Steinfeld , Grand Duchess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma (1849-1935) visited ) the plant and its facilities on the occasion of the study trip of her nephew, Prince Elias of Bourbon-Parma (1880–1959), half-brother of the future Empress Zita (1892–1989). - See: Correspondences. (...) Leobersdorf. Illustrator visit. In:  Badener Zeitung , No. 68/1897 (17th volume), August 25, 1897, p. 5, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). .

Web links

• Web presence
• News at Equita