Panther Fahrradwerke

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Panther Fahrradwerke AG
legal form Corporation
founding 1896 (as Pantherwerk )
resolution 1963
Seat Magdeburg , Braunschweig , Germany
Number of employees approx. 300 (1950)
Branch Bicycle manufacturers , stroller manufacturers , motor vehicle manufacturers , defense industry

Pantherwerke lettering in Braunschweig

The Panther Fahrradwerke AG was a company from Braunschweig , which existed from 1896 to 1963 and besides bicycles also prams , motorcycles etc. Ä. produced. From 1962 the company was continued under the name Pantherwerke AG by Richard Schminke and from 1979 by his son Michael Schminke in the East Westphalian city ​​of Löhne . Today the internationally operating group Panther International GmbH exists .

Company history

Foundation and growth

In 1896 the "Pantherwerk" was founded in Magdeburg . At around the same time, the Peters Bank in Braunschweig started the “Braunschweiger Fahrradwerke AG” in Ludwigstrasse and produced “Brunsviga” bicycles there in order to meet the demand that has been increasing for several years. The Braunschweig company flourished and expanded quickly, so that the Magdeburg factory was bought up as early as 1907, with the name "Panther" being adopted. The new company based in Braunschweig was henceforth called "Panther Fahrradwerke" , and production in Magdeburg ended. Another takeover followed in 1910, namely that of the bicycle department of Hoppe & Homann in Minden .

At that time, the Panther factory was doing well. The bikes were known as quality products. The trademark was a jumping panther . Cyclists like Willy Arend (1876–1964), Thaddäus Robl (1877–1910) and Anton Huber (1878–1961) became world champions on Panther bikes. From 1925 onwards, strollers were also manufactured, followed by mopeds in the 1930s . Sewing machines that were bought in were also traded. During the Second World War, the Panther factories in Braunschweig, as an armaments company, manufactured, among other things, T.Mi 35 (until 1941) and cockpit roofs for Junkers Ju 352 (since 1943).

Post-war period until 1963

After the factory survived the Second World War with little damage, production was restarted. Because of their longevity, Panther bikes were in great demand in Africa, Indonesia and the USA. In 1950 the production of motorcycles was added, the factory (meanwhile located in Mittelweg) employed around 300 people at that time, the annual production of bicycles was around 20,000 pieces, with a large proportion being exported overseas. 1957 followed with "Pfiff" the first dismantled bicycle, so to speak the forerunner of the folding bike of the 1970s.

However, when the trend in the times of reconstruction and the economic miracle moved more and more away from bicycles and towards cars, the economic decline set in very quickly from 1956. The introduction of the driving license requirement soon slowed down the sale of motorcycles. The company management had missed the connection with the new era and so in 1962 major shareholder Anton Schräder sold the majority of the shares to Richard Schminke, the owner of the Schminke-Werke in Bad Wildungen . In March 1963 the production in Braunschweig was finally stopped. Until then, 1.2 million bicycles had been built here.

The old, meanwhile restored company building in Mittelweg is now used as an office and commercial building and houses a.o. a. a restaurant , a hotel and a gym .

From Braunschweig to Löhne

Pantherwerke AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1962
resolution 2014
Seat Wages
Branch Bicycle manufacturer
Website http://www.pantherbike.com

In 1962 the company was bought by Richard Schminke, who was already successfully running Schminke GmbH (bicycle manufacturer). The production in Braunschweig was closed, the company name Pantherwerke AG was retained. In the course of time Schminke bought up various companies, including the Görickewerke from Bielefeld and the Rapier Fahrradwerke in Löhne. In 1971 the company headquarters was relocated to the old Rapier location in the East Westphalian town of Löhne . In 1975, at the age of 17, Michael Schminke joined the company after the death of his father Richard with an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk and in 1979 took over the management of the company in Löhne. In 1989 all production sites were concentrated in Löhne.

Worldwide expansion

In 1993 it was expanded into Central Europe. In the Czech Republic, Oliba spool sro was taken over, in Mühlhausen / Thuringia the Dreipunkt children's vehicles and in Lithuania in the industrial city of Siauliai the UAB Baltik Vairas. The latter produced around 2000 bicycles a day in 2003, so the production of wages was in fact almost outsourced. In 2008, a joint venture with a 33 percent stake was concluded with a bicycle manufacturer in Bangladesh . Since then, Pantherwerke AG has operated together with Masterbike SRO ( Czech Republic ) and UAB Baltik Vairas ( Lithuania ) under the umbrella of the Panther International GmbH group . In 2010, around 800 employees in the group produced around 450,000 bicycles per year. The consolidated turnover of the group in 2010 was 76 million euros.

The company produced u. a. the bicycle brands Panther, Göricke, Mammut and Bauer. Pedelecs and rental bicycles were developed and assembled at the Löhne site . In 2007, € 4.5 million was invested in a modern paint shop. Larger collaborations were agreed with, among others, DB Rent GmbH for the Call & Bike rental bike campaign . In September 2012, the last production facility in Germany was closed at the Löhne site. In 2013 the subsidiary UAB Baltik Vairas was sold. The unreliable delivery of the Lithuanian company after the sale meant that Pantherwerke AG in Löhne had to file for bankruptcy on February 3, 2014.

Owner Michael Schminke has acquired all properties in Löhne from the bankruptcy estate and has been managing the Panther International GmbH group since then. In Löhne, the team works in the areas of administration, warehouse logistics, sales, product development and product design.

To this day, the company has not had a static character; it has remained true to its flexibility.

Today, e-bikes and bicycles are built at the production sites in the Czech Republic and Romania , which bear the names "Panther", "Jaguar" and "Göricke". In order to keep the production facilities busy, the company also produces vehicles for well-known private label customers.

Distribution is organized through specialist dealers and wholesalers established throughout Europe.

Automobile production

The Panther works vorm. From 1900, Oskar Vormbaum from Magdeburg also manufactured automobiles that were marketed as Panthers . The first model was a motor tricycle with a single front wheel. The built-in engine came from De Dion-Bouton and was mounted in the rear. Four-wheeled vehicles followed later. Four-cylinder engines with either 12 HP , 15 HP or 20 HP provided the drive . Automobile production ended in 1904.

photos

  • Panther motorbike (moped) and motorcycle in the Ibbenbüren motorcycle museum

  • Motorbike Panther TS 98, built in 1954

  • Motorbike Panther KS 175 S, built in 1957

  • Motorbike Panther KS 175 S, built in 1957

  • Motorbike Panther KS 175 S, built in 1957

literature

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Panther vehicles from Braunschweig
  2. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Vita Michael Schminke at the IHK Aussenwirtschaft@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.ihk-aussenwirtschaftstag-nrw.de
  3. ↑ Handelsblatt of October 1, 2003
  4. ↑ Panther Opts Out of GermanBangla venture in Bangladesh. In: Bike Europe. February 1, 2012, accessed July 24, 2014 .
  5. ↑ durchzu-wem.de Company profile Pantherwerke
  6. ↑ NW-News: Panther stops production in Löhne , accessed on July 13, 2012.

Coordinates: 52 ° 16 ′ 43 ″  N , 10 ° 31 ′ 30 ″  E