Darmstadt engine factory

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Darmstadt engine factory
legal form Aktiengesellschaft (1906–1947)
GmbH (1947–1960)
founding 1902
resolution 1960
Reason for dissolution Takeover by Demag
Seat Darmstadt
Branch Engine construction , agricultural machinery construction , tractor construction

The Darmstadt engine factory was a mechanical engineering company from Darmstadt, which existed from 1902 to 1960 and mainly manufactured gas engines, glow-head engines and diesel engines for stationary use, locomotives , ship drives and tractors .

Beginnings of the company (1902–1906)

The origins of the Darmstadt engine factory go back to 1902, when the engineer August Koch (born 1876) founded a workshop for dairy machines in Kirschenallee in what is now the Darmstadt-Nord district , in which he initially employed 10 workers. Since the company was not profitable, he founded the "Koch & Gräb" dairy machinery and engine factory together with master locksmith Johann Gräb (1867–1929), who ran a workshop for repairing engines. As early as 1904, it manufactured four types of horizontal gas engines, the most powerful of which had an output of 10 hp . The company now employed 50 workers and in 1905 expanded the product range to include suction gas engines and suction gas generators with up to 70 hp. Additional capital was required for further production.

MODAAG: growth and stock corporation (1906–1947)

On August 20, 1906, August Koch founded the Motorenfabrik Darmstadt AG (MODAAG) together with the businessman Friedrich May (1875–1939) and three other shareholders. August Koch and Friedrich May formed the board of directors, Johann Gräb remained in the plant as a master. August Koch left as early as 1907 and Friedrich May continued to run the company on his own until his death.

From 1908 onwards, MODAAG built hot-head motors from the Solos-Motoren-Gesellschaft under license. It also began to produce its own diesel engines, but the First World War initially stopped development. The company grew to become one of the leading engine manufacturers producing locomotives, horizontal engines for gas and petrol as well as suction gas engine systems and hot-bulb and diesel engines.

Former workshop of the Darmstadt engine factory. Built 1923-25.

After the First World War, the great demand for two-stroke diesel engines required extensive factory enlargements. In 1925, the construction of the factory hall, which still exists today, was completed on Darmstädter Kirschenallee, in which, among other things, diesel engines were built.

The diesel engines became the company's most successful product: These included the “RB” series, which they brought onto the market in 1925. The engines were easy to handle and achieved high performance with favorable fuel consumption and were used in particular to propel ships. The success of the engines in 1927 led to an interest group with the Friedrich Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel and were sold as "Bauart Krupp-MODAAG". The demand - with simultaneous licensing to France, Italy and Poland - accelerated the further expansion of the plant and led to cooperation with Demag . From 1942 to 1947, this cooperation resulted in an association with Kämper AG from Berlin-Marienfelde, which belongs to Demag, to form Demag Motorenwerke AG, Berlin. Until 1939, MODAAG engines were one of the most frequently used makes of diesel engines in fish cutters.

MODAG: From the conversion of the GmbH to the takeover (1947–1960)

After the Second World War , the company quickly recovered from the war damage. In production, it again manufactured the two-stroke diesel engines of the RB 40 series with 1–5 cylinders and developed them into larger variants and models.

At the same time, in 1947 the company was converted into a GmbH and the name changed to "Modag, Motorenfabrik Darmstadt GmbH". It was managed by the previous major shareholder Demag in Duisburg. In 1960 Demag took over the company and production of diesel engines was discontinued in 1964. After the takeover of Demag by Mannesmann AG in 1973, the Darmstadt plant was shut down. The site was then sold to Carl Schenck AG .

MODAG tractors

LHB Robot caterpillar tractor with 25 HP (18.5 kW); Produced in small numbers in 1953.

MODAAG and MODAG also produced tractors on a small scale. During the First World War, the company developed its first model in 1916, which was based on traction engines. It was powered by a 20 hp single-cylinder benzene engine that brought the vehicle to 2.5 or 5.5 km / h . The second model was launched in 1924 under the name "Modag 1". This tractor was powered by a water-cooled two-cylinder “Colo” diesel engine with 16 HP (12 kW), which brought the vehicle to a top speed of 8 km / h. The third model from 1927 was called "Modag 2" and received a "Colo" diesel engine increased to 20 HP (15 kW). It is estimated that around 290 of the two types of tractor were produced between 1924 and 1931.

After the Second World War, the company built engines from the Primus Tractor Company under license. In 1953, MODAG was also one of several engine suppliers for the LHB lightweight caterpillar "Robot" from what was then Linke-Hofmann-Busch GmbH (today Alstom Transport Germany ). For the series, which was only built in 1953, MODAG supplied a license from the Primus Tractor Company with 25 HP (18.5 kW).

Ships with MODAG engines (selection)

The research ship Hermann Wattenberg of the University of Kiel.

In shipping, MODAG engines were used in particular in fishing for cutters , larger boats and on small ships. Often, the installation was done later, for example when changing the engine. A selection of boats and ships with MODAG engines:

Today's use of the MODAG site

The entire former factory area of ​​the Darmstadt engine works is now owned by an industrial holding administration in Frankfurt. In the previously vacant building, an "event location" is being created for events, conferences or presentations with a hall for up to 400 visitors.

literature

  • MODAG Motorenfabrik GmbH: 50 years of MODAG 1902–1952. Düsseldorf 1952
  • Ulrich Eisenbach: Machine and apparatus engineering. In: Historical Association for Hesse on behalf of the Magistrate of the City of Science Darmstadt, Roland Dotzert (Hrsg.): Stadtlexikon Darmstadt. Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-8062-1930-3 , quoted from the updated and expanded online version at: https://www.darmstadt-stadtlexikon.de/stadtlexikon-darmstadt.html
  • Friedrich Sass: History of the German internal combustion engine construction: From 1860 to 1918. Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 1962, ISBN 3-662-11843-2 .
  • Wolfgang H. Gebhardt: Paperback German tractor construction. Volume 2: Kramer – Zogbaum. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-440-05856-5 .
  • Franz Fischer: The economic middle class of the Rhine-Main area in the 19th century. A contribution to historical mobility research. In: Karl Möckl (Ed.): Economic bourgeoisie in the German states in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Harald Boldt Verlag im R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-486-56269-X , pp. 145-216.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sass, p. 645f.
  2. ↑ Fischer, pp. 186f.
  3. ↑ cf. 50 years of MODAG
  4. ↑ Christian Schupp: Modag, engine factory Darmstadt
  5. ^ A b Eisenbach: Machine and apparatus construction
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Rudolph: Boat engine construction in the German coastal area (until 1945) Part 1: The Baltic region. In: German Shipping Archive. 19, 1996, pp. 367-401, p. 371.
  7. ↑ Gebhardt, p. 94f.
  8. ↑ cf. about Colo-Diesel-Motor also Christian Schupp: Colo-Diesel-Motorengesellschaft. as well as Wolfgang H. Gebhardt: Taschenbuch deutscher Schlepperbau. Volume 1: Abega – Kosto. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-440-05808-5 , p. 44.
  9. ^ Hans Lipp: Automobile production from 1885 to 1945. private homepage
  10. ↑ Tractor Chronicle 1949. traktorclassic.de
  11. ^ LHB Linke-Hofmann-Busch tractors and chain tractors. fahrzeugseiten.de
  12. ↑ Joachim Nieswandt: The conversion of the engine factory in Darmstadt is suspended at echo-online.de

Coordinates: 49 ° 52 ′ 48 "  N , 8 ° 38 ′ 10.5"  E