Max Dünnebier

Max Dünnebier (born November 22, 1878 in Briesnitz , Saxony ; † March 19, 1950 in Neuwied , Rhineland-Palatinate ) was a German inventor and co-founder of the Winkler & Dünnebier company .

life and work

The beginnings

Max Dünnebier was born in Briesnitz near Dresden . When he was barely 20 years old, the mechanic Dünnebier , who now lives in Heidenau , began to deal with a problem outside of his job at the time. In his spare time he worked on a machine that would rotate and fold paper blanks from a stack of paper into finished envelopes and glue them together. After he had succeeded, he was able to apply for his first patent on September 15, 1900 for a machine for the production of envelopes and bags (patent no. 154424). However, those skilled in the art judged his invention to be impractical. Since he did not have the necessary funds to build a machine that was ready for sale on the basis of his patented invention, he published an advertisement in a trade journal about the search for capital: "Looking for capital to exploit a new, epoch-making invention (envelope machine with rotating tools)".

Nobody in Germany responded to this ad. But a German living in Great Britain, Anton Wantzen, who had been successfully selling German envelope machines on the British market for a long time, answered. He agreed to finance three machines. However, too many technical defects prevented further machines from being built. One of the three "firsts" was acquired by the large British envelope factory Millington , which recognized its value. She recommended the inventor Dünnebier to contact the machine factory Fischer & Wescher in Elberfeld and ask for further information on how to improve his rotary machine. This Elberfeld company already produced various machines for the production of envelopes. Its owner suggested a collaboration with Dünnbier, which resulted in an improved machine. Since this functioned adequately, Fischer & Wescher was, to Dünnebier's annoyance, no longer willing to invest new money in further new designs.

Company formation

Max Dünnebier got to know his future business partner and friend Alfred Winkler in 1911 when Dünnebier installed a new envelope machine for Fischer & Wescher at the Neuwied envelope factory Willy Strüder . Alfred Winkler, who had already acquired several patents in the field of envelope production, worked there as plant manager . The mutual interest of the two men from Saxony quickly grew into a friendship and the desire to do business together. While Dünnebier continued to work in Elberfeld for the time being, Winkler set up a test workshop and manufactured the first machine models and castings there. Winkler's employer, the entrepreneur Willy Strüder, encouraged the two mechanics to strive for independence. Parts of the first machine were even allowed to be manufactured in Strüder's factory.

With start-up capital of only 3,500 marks (an advance from the sale of foreign patents), the two men implemented their wish in 1913 and founded the Winkler & Dünnebier company in Neuwied. It was sold under the Helios brand . Based on the earlier inventions and patents of the two founders, the young company was able to offer rotary envelope machines that enabled significantly higher speeds and precision in envelope production than conventional flapper technology.

World Wars and Great Depression

The outbreak of the First World War brought a major collapse in business for Winkler & Dünnebier. Alfred Winkler tried to counter this by entering the confectionery machine business. A chance acquaintance with the director of a chocolate factory had given him the idea of developing a chocolate enrobing machine. After receiving a patent on it in 1914, a first copy was delivered to a major German chocolate factory in 1916. After the First World War, these machines were then sold worldwide. Before that, however, Winkler & Dünnebier was involved in the armaments industry and, from 1917, had to manufacture mainly shell casings.

After the end of the war, the machine park worn out by war production and the hyperinflation made it very difficult for Winkler & Dünnebier to resume machine production. When the leading US envelope manufacturer Tension Envelope offered to sell the Winkler & Dünnebier envelope machines in the USA in 1922, a new, huge market opened up for the Neuwied company.

Winkler & Dünnebier recovered so well after the global economic crisis that in 1936 the company Fischer & Wescher , competitor and former employer of Max Dünnebier, was taken over. A few years earlier, this company had developed a rotary envelope machine that no longer produced envelopes from a stack of punched sheets, but directly from the roll of paper.

From 1939 to 1945 the company was again obliged to produce equipment essential for the war effort and manufactured gauges , measuring tools and test devices for the armaments industry in Plant II . Alfred Winkler's death shortly after the end of the Second World War came at a time that was very difficult not only for Winkler & Dünnebier. The factory in Neuwied was badly damaged by Allied bombing and dismantling . In addition, many employees had died in the war or were prisoners of war . Together with Richard Winkler , Alfred Winkler's son, Max Dünnebier succeeded until his death in 1950 not only in saving the badly ailing company, but in giving it a new upturn through a series of new technical developments.

Family and private

Max Dünnebier was with Hulda Klara geb. Wolf (1879–1945) married and had three daughters with her: Ottilie Klencher (1905–1993), Grete Heckert and Ilse Wagenbach (1917–1995). For a large part of his life he was privately occupied with the perpetual motion machine .

Honors

After Max Dünnbier's death, a street in Neuwied was named in his honor.

literature

Klara van Eyll , Renate Schwärzel: German economic archives . Franz Steiner Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3-515-06211-4 , Volume 1, p. 304.
Kurt Wolfram: The economic development of the city of Neuwied. Publishing house Peter Kehrein, Neuwied 1927, p. 32 f.
50 years of Winkler & Dünnebier. In the local calendar of the Neuwied district 1964. p. 133.
Hermann-Joseph Löhr: Production started 100 years ago in the backyard. Alfred Winkler and Max Dünnebier founded an envelope factory in 1913. In the district of Neuwied Heimatjahrbuch 2013. pp. 310–314.
Winkler & Dünnebier machine factory and iron foundry (ed.): 25 years of Helios machines. Strüdersche Buchdruckerei, Neuwied 1938.
Winkler & Dünnebier machine factory and iron foundry (ed.): 50 years of Winkler + Dünnebier 1913–1963. Hoppenstedts Economic Archive, Darmstadt 1963.
Winkler & Dünnebier machine factory and iron foundry (ed.): 75 years of Winkler + Dünnebier 1913–1988. Neuwied 1988.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Thin beer, max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German inventor and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH	November 22, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH	Briesnitz (Dresden)
DATE OF DEATH	March 19, 1950
Place of death	Neuwied