Messer Group

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Messer Group GmbH

logo
legal form Company with limited liability
founding 1898
Seat Bad Soden am Taunus , Germany
management
  • Stefan Messer
  • Uwe Bechtolf
  • Ernst Bode
  • Johann Ringhofer, EVP Engineering & Production
  • Adolf Walth, EVP Sales & Marketing
Number of employees 5805 (2018)
sales EUR 1.350 billion (2018)
Branch chemistry
Website www.messergroup.com
Status: 2019

The main headquarters in Bad Soden am Taunus

The Messer Group GmbH is an industrial gas manufacturer that (as of 2011) is one of the 20 top-selling German chemical companies. The company operates in 30 European and Asian countries as well as in Peru. Messer produces industrial gases such as oxygen , nitrogen , argon , carbon dioxide , hydrogen , helium , shielding gases for welding , specialty gases , medical gases and many different gas mixtures and is a manufacturer of gas production systems. Managing director of the family company with headquarters in Bad Soden am Taunus is Stefan Messer, grandson of the company founder.

history

The student Adolf Messer (1878–1954), son of a master butcher, founded a workshop in Höchst am Main in 1898 for the construction of acetylene lamps and acetylene generators, i.e. apparatus for the production of acetylene gas from calcium carbide . Because of the competition from the advent of electric lighting, the company soon geared its production to welding and cutting technology . For the autogenous welding a mixture of acetylene and oxygen, which burns at high temperatures is required. To produce these gases, Messer began building air separation plants from 1908 to extract oxygen , nitrogen , argon and other noble gases . The beginning of the First World War in 1914 put an end to the company's expansion abroad - Messer was now present in Western Europe and North America - for the time being. Instead, the company had to make its contribution to the war economy .

By the end of the First World War, Messer had built a total of 50 liquid oxygen systems including the necessary workshops for the production of explosive cartridges for warring agencies in the German Empire and for neutral foreign countries . In the difficult economic environment of the post-war period , Messer concentrated on exports. In 1928, Messer supplied air separation plants for nitrogen production to Norway and Italy. At the beginning of the 1930s, the company completed the development work on multi-flame welding torches (1930), started building electric welding machines as the first manufacturer of oxy-fuel devices and began producing coated arc welding electrodes in 1932.

During the National Socialist era, Messer & Co. GmbH grew, particularly with the armament that began in 1936. The total workforce increased from 522 to 1102 between 1930 and 1940 and total sales almost doubled. During the Second World War , the company manufactured, among other things, flame cutting systems for welding armored vehicles and supplied systems for the production of liquid oxygen to the Peenemünde Army Research Center .

Since the mid-1930s, the Association for Oxy-Fuel Metal Working and the German Acetylene Association cooperated with the Reichsgemeinschaft der Scientific-Technischen Arbeit and the German Labor Front , before both associations became part of the German Association for Welding Technology and Acetylene in 1942 . V. (DVSA) were transferred to the Reichsfachgruppe Chemie e. V. belonged to the NS-Bund Deutscher Technik .

During the time of National Socialism , the Messer company profited considerably from the regime's arms production. The spot and projection welding machines were u. a. used for the production of the Fieseler Fi 103 (so-called V1) and the unit 4 (so-called V2) in Peenemünde and supplied four large-scale systems for the production of liquid oxygen. They were also used for welding armored hulls, and a space-curve flame cutting machine was developed with which pressed armored domes could be processed in three dimensions. Small systems were designed for the Wehrmacht that could generate welding gases on site. Since the winter of 1941/42, after many workers were called up in the Messer factories, a considerable number of forced laborers were employed in barracks in the immediate vicinity of the production facilities. In 1944 the production facilities on Hanauer Landstrasse in Frankfurt am Main were largely destroyed by the bombing .

With the approval of the American military government , reconstruction began, so that production could resume in 1947. The products such as cutting torches and the gases acetylene and oxygen required for this were urgently needed to clear the debris. From 1949 new foreign companies and branches were established. After the company's founder Adolf Messer passed away in 1954, his son Hans Messer (1925–1997) took over the management of Adolf Messer GmbH . The company grew rapidly in the 1950s and increased its total sales from 12.7 million (1950) to 49.5 million German marks (1960). During the same period the number of workers rose from 761 to 1328 and the number of salaried employees from 240 to 674 people. Expansion markets inside and outside Europe could be expanded further.

In 1965 Adolf Messer GmbH merged with Knapsack Griesheim AG to form Messer Griesheim GmbH , in which Farbwerke Hoechst held two thirds and the Messer family one third. The headquarters of the merged company remained the Messer parent plant on Hanauer Landstrasse. The industrial gases sector, which contributed around 70 percent to sales, became the focus of business activity.

In 1993 Hans Messer left the company management. Since the majority owner Hoechst started concentrating on the pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial chemistry sectors and wanted to sell his Messer shares, conflicts arose with the Messer family. A planned IPO failed, as did the sale of the Hoechst shares to the competitor Linde AG . The welding and cutting technology division was spun off in 1997 and sold to a holding company of the Messer family in 1999. In 2001, Aventis sold the Messer shares it had taken over from Hoechst as part of the merger to two investment companies. The Messer family took over these shares in 2004 and made the company completely family-owned again under the name Messer Group GmbH . The businesses of the national companies in Germany , Great Britain and the USA were sold to Air Liquide for around EUR 2.7 billion and the headquarters of the holding company relocated to Sulzbach (Taunus) .

The Messer Group's turnover rose to EUR 1.1 billion by 2006. Since the end of 2008, the company has been selling industrial gas again in Germany, which it was prohibited from doing for four years in 2004 due to an agreement on a non-competition clause on the sale of the German business to Air Liquide. Today the Messer Group is active in Europe , China , Vietnam and Peru .

Corporate structure

Ownership structure

Structure of the knife cutting systems

The company shares of Messer and MEC are 73 percent held by Stefan Messer and other family members and 27 percent by the non-profit Adolf Messer Foundation. The foundation for the promotion of science and research was established in 1978 in memory of Adolf Messer, who founded the Messer company in Frankfurt / Main in 1898.

MEC Holding

The four business areas - Castolin Eutectic, Messer Cutting Systems, Spectron Gas Control Systems and BIT - are managed by a small holding company, MEC Holding. The registered office is in Bad Soden. MEC Holding coordinates the activities of the operative business.

"Part of the Messer World" umbrella brand

The Messer Group and the Messer Eutectic Castolin Group use the umbrella brand “Part of the Messer World” in the industrial gases business and in welding and cutting technology, which is marketed under the Messer name. The following companies are part of the "Messer World".

Knife group

The company's product portfolio ranges from acetylene to xenon . The company also develops applications for the use of gases in almost all branches of industry, medicine and research .

ASCO carbonic acid

ASCO Kohlensäure AG produces automatic dry ice production machines, CO 2 production and recovery systems, dry ice blasting devices, CO 2 storage tanks, bottle filling systems, evaporators and other CO 2 accessories.

BIT Group

The BIT Group is active in the field of diagnostic and medical devices. It also acts as a service provider in the field of contract development and production as well as after-sale services for devices for medical and diagnostic original equipment manufacturers .

Castolin Eutectic

The Castolin Eutectic Group is a global company specializing in maintenance, repair and wear protection applications.

In 2020, Messer sold Castolin Eutectic in full to Paragon Partners .

Spectron Gas Control Systems

Spectron is a manufacturer of fittings and system assemblies for gases of various gas qualities; from technical and laboratory technology to high-purity applications.

Knife Cutting Systems

The Messer Cutting Systems GmbH is a provider of technologies and support services for the metalworking industry. In addition to oxy-fuel, plasma and laser cutting systems, the company offers suitable software solutions for order-related production as well as environmental technology associated with the system. The range of services is supplemented with nozzles, torches and systems for oxy-fuel welding, cutting, soldering and heating.

foreign countries

Messer Austria has been part of the Messer Group since 1969. The head office for Austria is in Gumpoldskirchen in Lower Austria. The company is also active at six other Austrian locations and offers 76 sales outlets known as “gas centers”. Messer Austria is a successor company to the Austro-Hungarian Oxygen Works, which was founded in 1898 and later renamed Hydroxygen GesmbH .

social commitment

The Adolf Messer Foundation , established in 1978 by the Messer family, supports research and teaching by scientists who have drawn attention to themselves through outstanding achievements. For this purpose, prizes are awarded once a year at the Technical University of Darmstadt and at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main .

In recognition of Hans Messer's social commitment, his wife Ria Messer founded the Dr. Hans Messer Social Foundation in 2004 . Through donations and donations, it helps people who are in need through no fault of their own and supports care facilities for the treatment of serious illnesses through no fault of their own. For example, the national companies supported the Hungarian Red Cross and a children's home in the Czech Republic.

In 2009, the Messer Group GmbH initiated the courtesy without hands campaign to make it clear that the socially customary handshake when greeting people can be dispensed with. The aim of not using the handshake is to reduce the risk of infection by viruses - e.g. B. swine flu  - in a simple and effective way to reduce and thus prevent pandemics .

Awards

In 2010, Stefan Messer was named “ Family Business Owner of the Year ”.

literature

  • Jörg Lesczenski: 100 percent knife. The return of the family business from 1898 to the present day. Piper, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-492-05085-2 .
  • Franz Lerner: Frankfurt am Main and its economy . Ammelburg-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1958
  • Ernst Koch: A company through the ages - Messer Griesheim . Messer Griesheim GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 1993

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b [1] . In: messergroup.com . P. 6. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  2. Digital press kit from Messer Group GmbH. ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2013 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. Retrieved March 8, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.messergroup.com
  3. Jörg Leczenski, Brief Report Adolf Messer in National Socialism, 2016, ON THE HISTORY OF THE MESSER-WERKE IM NS (pdf)
  4. Documentation of the reconstruction in Frankfurt ( Memento from January 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  5. Liquid gas business in USA to be sold: Air Liquide sells Messer-Griesheim parts . Handelsblatt
  6. Takeover of Messer Griesheim strengthens position of world market leader for industrial gases Air Liquide puts Linde in a difficult position
  7. a b Industry sales of the Messer Group over one billion euros
  8. Messer is celebrating its comeback
  9. Industry Messer is again aiming for the billion in sales
  10. Messer Cutting Systems: History. Retrieved January 8, 2018 .
  11. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/wirtschaft/messer-verkauf-castolin-eutectic-16737804.html
  12. knife | Spectron Gas Control Systems. Retrieved June 16, 2018 .
  13. Inerting - what is it? In: Brand Aus. Monthly magazine of the Lower Austrian Fire Brigade Association , issue 10/2010.
  14. ^ Adolf Messer Foundation. ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2013 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. Retrieved March 13, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.adolf-messer-stiftung.de
  15. ^ Adolf Messer Prize. Technical University of Darmstadt, accessed on September 25, 2017 .
  16. ^ Adolf Messer Foundation Prize at the Goethe University Frankfurt. ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2013 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. Retrieved March 13, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www2.uni-frankfurt.de
  17. Foundation purposes of the Dr. Hans Messer Social Foundation accessed on March 13, 2013
  18. ^ Lexicon of German family entrepreneurs . ISBN 978-3-8349-1640-2 , p. 569
  19. Smiling is better than any medicine . Action politely without hands . Retrieved November 11, 2013