Max Weishaupt

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Maximilian "Max" Weishaupt (born October 31, 1908 in Schwendi ; † August 18, 1982 ibid) was a German entrepreneur and founder of Max Weishaupt GmbH .

Family and starting a business

Max Weishaupt was born in 1908 as the second child of the mechanical engineer Franz Josef Weishaupt and his wife Babette Weishaupt-Hammer in the Upper Swabian community of Schwendi . His two grandfathers were also craftsmen: Max Weishaupt, whose name he bore, made bellows for blacksmiths and organs . The other grandfather, Karl Hammer, ran a paint shop in Schwendi.

After completing primary school in 1922, the then 14-year-old began an apprenticeship in his father's company, which manufactured transportable field blacksmiths and smiths for metalworking shops. As a result of the economic crisis , the father had to file for bankruptcy in 1931 and give up the small factory. Max Weishaupt was unemployed for a long time, in 1932 he founded his own company ("Max Weishaupt, Maschinenfabrik, Schwendi"). Initially, Weishaupt also manufactured forges and blowers . In 1937 he passed the examination to become a master mechanical engineer . Business flourished: In 1939 Weishaupt set up its first workshop in the center of Schwendi. On May 1, 1938, he married Sofie Kiesle, the daughter of the Schwendier master hairdresser . The senior center of the “ Arbeiter Samariter Bund ” in Schwendi has been named after Sofie Weishaupt since 2006 . The marriage had three children: Siegfried Weishaupt (born 1939), Herbert Weishaupt (1941–1974) and Maximilian Weishaupt (1949–2018).

NSDAP functionary

Max Weishaupt joined the NSDAP in 1932, the year before the National Socialists came to power . During the period of unemployment he had radicalized himself politically. According to his own statements, he initially sympathized with the communists because he supported an overthrow of the economic system. After attending an NSDAP event, he became enthusiastic about the social revolutionary wing of the party. In the course of the “ Gleichschaltung” , the 24-year-old Weishaupt was appointed a councilor by the NSDAP in August 1933. At times he was also the Nazi radio and film manager at Schwendi. From 1935, Weishaupt was the local chairman of the German Labor Front , the NS unified organization of workers and entrepreneurs.

In the Second World War , Max Weishaupt managed to avoid being drafted into the Wehrmacht by manufacturing "war-essential" goods . After the war ended in 1945, he was briefly imprisoned by the French occupying forces . In 1948, a denazification court classified him as a “fellow traveler”, although the district investigation committee had certified that he had “contributed to the establishment of the Nazi tyranny”. In his defense, Weishaupt stated that he recognized the calamity that National Socialism would bring. He was "not brave enough to draw the line".

Entry into the burner business

After the war, Weishaupt started building engines . The breakthrough came in 1952 with a license agreement with Jakob Meier's Swiss company: From then on, Weishaupt built heating burners with the name “Monarch”. In the same year Max Weishaupt applied for a patent for the oil burner , which formed the basis for later own burner production. In 1961 Weishaupt manufactured the first “overpressure burner”, and in 1962 the trend-setting entry into the gas burner business followed . Around 400 people were employed in Schwendi at the time. The partnership became Max Weishaupt GmbH .

After his death in 1982, Max Weishaupt was buried in the area of ​​the Schwendier cemetery that was specially created for the Weishaupt family . The sole management of Max Weishaupt GmbH was taken over by his son Siegfried Weishaupt , who had managed the company together with his father since 1972. At that time the company had 1900 employees and had a turnover of 220 million D-Marks.

School founder and art lover

Weishaupt and Max Weishaupt had a great personal influence on the development of the community of Schwendi. For many years he worked in the local council, at times as the mayor's deputy . Weishaupt pushed ahead with the establishment of a local secondary school , which opened in 1962. It became an important training center for later specialists in the company. Since the anniversary of its 25th anniversary in 1987, it has been called "Max Weishaupt Realschule". The street to the company premises was also named after the company patriarch , it is called "Max-Weishaupt-Straße".

Max Weishaupt attached great importance to the design of his products, which is why he worked with the Ulm University of Design . The designers Hans Gugelot and Hans Sukopp designed the burner and control cabinets , among other things . Weishaupt bought high-quality art privately - from Pablo Picasso, among others. In 1979 he had himself portrayed by Pop Art artist Andy Warhol , the picture is now hanging in the “Weishaupt Forum”.

Honors

literature

  • Burkhard Riering: Swabian pioneers. From the workshop to the global company . Bvd, Biberach 2012, ISBN 978-3-943391-16-9
  • Volker Straehle (2015): Young radical becomes entrepreneur. Max Weishaupt: local chairman of the German Labor Front, Schwäbische Zeitung Laupheim, April 11, 2015

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Burkhard Riering (2013): Swabian Pioneers. From a cosmopolitan city to a global company, Biberach, p. 29.
  2. ↑ Volker Strähle (2015): Young radical becomes entrepreneur. Max Weishaupt: local chairman of the German Labor Front, Schwäbische Zeitung Laupheim, April 11, 2015
  3. ↑ Volker Strähle (2015): Young radical becomes entrepreneur. Max Weishaupt: local chairman of the German Labor Front, Schwäbische Zeitung Laupheim, April 11, 2015
  4. ↑ Volker Strähle (2015): Young radical becomes entrepreneur. Max Weishaupt: local chairman of the German Labor Front, Schwäbische Zeitung Laupheim, April 11, 2015
  5. ↑ Volker Strähle (2015): Young radical becomes entrepreneur. Max Weishaupt: local chairman of the German Labor Front, Schwäbische Zeitung Laupheim, April 11, 2015
  6. ↑ Burkhard Riering (2013): Swabian Pioneers. From a cosmopolitan city to a global company, Biberach, p. 35
  7. ↑ Burkhard Riering (2013): Swabian Pioneers. From a metropolis to a global company, Biberach, p. 37
  8. ↑ hansgugelot.com
  9. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 26, No. 66, April 4, 1974.
personal data
SURNAME Weishaupt, Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weishaupt, Maximilian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Schwendi
DATE OF DEATH 18th August 1982
Place of death Schwendi