Max von Bleichert

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Adolf Max von Bleichert (born May 28, 1875 in Schkeuditz , † January 24, 1947 in Bad Sachsa ) was a major German industrialist in the construction of cable cars and transport systems. Together with his brother Paul von Bleichert , he managed the company Adolf Bleichert & Co., a factory for cable cars , Leipzig-Gohlis, founded by his father , and developed it into the world's largest cable car and transport system factory.

Portrait of Max von Bleichert around 1920
Helene von Bleichert born Tiedemann (1877-1948)

Life

education

Max attended the König-Albert-Gymnasium in Leipzig from 1884 to 1893 . After passing the school leaving examination, he received his first practical training at the mechanical engineering company Gebrüder Klein in Dahlbruch . Then he began his military service as a one-year volunteer with the 1st Royal Saxon Field Artillery Regiment No. 12 in Dresden .

In 1895 Max began studying mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe and two semesters later switched to the Technical University of Dresden , where he passed the diploma examination as an engineer for mechanical engineering in 1899 . He then worked in French and Belgian industrial companies with the latest findings in the field of iron construction. In New Jersey , at the Trenton Iron Company , he got to know the American invention of the electric monorail system, which he would later develop and introduce in Europe .

Company management 1901–1931

After the premature death of their father, the two oldest brothers, Max and Paul, jointly took over the management of Adolf Bleichert & Co. on October 1st, 1901. While Max was responsible for technical research, development and rationalization of production, Paul was responsible for the commercial area as well as responsible for the company's tariff and social policy.

After the family members involved were paid out, the company became the sole property of the brothers on May 1, 1915. Under her leadership, the company develops from a medium-sized company specializing in the construction of cable cars to a world-leading large company for cable and electric monorail systems , transport systems, loading systems and cranes with up to 2000 employees. Subsidiaries were founded in the cities of Charkow , Wels and in 1912 in Neuss .

During the First World War , production was adapted to the needs of the German Army . They produced ammunition and grenades and developed the monocable for field cable car that enables ammunition and food delivered to the front, could be transported to the front line but above all the wounded to medical care.

In 1924 the brothers celebrated the 50th anniversary of their father's company. The commemorative publication published on the occasion mentions that with the construction of a total of 4,000 cable cars by 1924, the overall performance of all cable car manufacturers in the world was exceeded by the company Adolf Bleichert & Co.

In 1926 the company was converted into a stock corporation with 4 million Reichsmark share capital. From then on, Max von Bleichert acted as general director and member of the board. His brother Paul withdrew into private life due to health problems.

At the end of the 1920s, the crisis began to intensify in the company. External factors such as the global economic crisis , the banking crisis as well as increased competition and falling prices, but also internal wrong decisions by management and flagging product innovations all led to a rapid collapse of the company. Using his private assets, Max von Bleichert tried to avert the impending bankruptcy .

Villa Max von Bleichert in Leipzig (around 1930)

In the spring of 1932 the insolvency proceedings ended with a guilty verdict for Max von Bleichert, who in December 1931 had been described by the press as the leading head of the German economy. The judgment also contained the prohibition on trading under the name Bleichert again or on starting up the company A. Bleichert & Co. A.-G. to be liquidated . to contribute.

Max von Bleichert then withdrew into private life. He lived on his estate in Splau near Bad Schmiedeberg and in Bad Sachsa , where he died in 1947. His grave is in Göttingen .

family

Max von Bleichert married Emma Helene Tiedemann (born July 14, 1877 in Dresden; † March 3, 1948 in Göttingen) on October 7, 1901 in Dresden, stepdaughter of Gustav Tiedemann, owner of the Carl Tiedemann Chemische Werke Coswig -Dresden and founded in 1833 his wife, Helene, née Schrödel. The marriage had three sons:

  • Max Adolf ROLF (1902-1922)
  • Erich WOLFRAM (1905–1991)
  • HORST Manfred (1908–1987)

Art collector

Max von Bleichert and his brother Paul were among the most important private art collectors in Germany in the period before and after the First World War. Their collections included paintings by old and new masters , furniture, textiles, silver, bronzes , minerals, porcelains and faiences . To avert the bankruptcy of his company, Max von Bleichert offered large parts of his collection for sale in 1931. The auction house Rudolph Lepke, commissioned with the auction, estimates the value of the collection at 1.2 million Reichsmarks. The proceeds from the auction, however, remained far below expectations and only brought in the sum of 272,000 Reichsmarks.

Nobilization, title, memberships

literature

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ Includes: bucket elevators , brake mountains , rope and chain conveyors , rope and shunting systems, excavators, conveyor belts, locomotives.
  2. ↑ Includes: crane systems, loading bridges , elevators and tippers .
  3. ↑ By the end of the war, 630 field cable cars with a length of 2.5 kilometers had been delivered to the army.
  4. ↑ Half a century of cable car construction: 1874–1924. Experiences and successes. Adolf Bleichert & Co., private printing, Leipzig undated (1924).
  5. ↑ In addition to Max von Bleichert, the board of directors included: Arthur Boskamp as technical director; Heinrich Siede as commercial director and Alfred Friedrich as factory director.
  6. ↑ Measures included the sale of company shares, the taking out of private bank loans and the auctioning of his important art collection, which was far below its value.
  7. ↑ See on this: Dietulf Sander: On the search for traces : The art collections of the brothers Max and Paul von Bleichert. In: Leipziger Geschichtsverein e. V. (Ed.): Leipzig city history. Yearbook 2011. Sax-Verlag, Beucha, Markkleeberg 2012, pp. 139 ff. ISBN 978-3-86729-102-6 .
  8. ↑ Together with his brother Max on March 24, 1918 by King Friedrich August III. of Saxony . It is probably the last uprising of the nobility before the abolition of the monarchy in Saxony.
  9. ^ At the suggestion of Justizrat Dr. Max Engel recorded on March 12, 1922.
  10. ↑ Membership ended on November 4, 1931.
personal data
SURNAME Bleichert, Max von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bleichert, Adolf Max von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German industrialist and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH May 28, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Schkeuditz
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1947
Place of death Bad Sachsa