Paul G. Hahnemann

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Paul G. Hahnemann 1968 in his office in the BMW factory in Munich

Paul Gustav Hahnemann (born October 31, 1912 in Strasbourg ; † January 23, 1997 in Munich ; known as "Niche Paule") was from 1961 to 1972 Board Member for Sales at Bayerische Motorenwerke ( BMW ). During his tenure at BMW, the introduction and further development of the successful “ New Class ” fell.

Life

Paul G. Hahnemann as a student at T! Zaringia, summer semester 1930

After the end of the First World War , his mother fled to Kehl with him and his younger brother . In 1931 Paul Hahnemann graduated from the Kant-Oberrealschule ( today Kant-Gymnasium ) in Karlsruhe .

After enrolling as a student of electrical engineering at what was then the TH Karlsruhe (Technical University Karlsruhe), he became active in the Zaringia student union Karlsruhe. Paul G. Hahnemann later promoted their students and was happy to pass on his experiences to them. He was an important pioneer of the 1953 merger of the Freiburg gymnastics club Gotia with “his” Karlsruhe gymnastics club Zaringia to form the gymnastics club Gotia-Zaringia .

In 1939, shortly before the start of the Second World War , he decided to go to the "hard school" of General Motors and learned the auto business at Adam Opel AG . Opel had him put "uk" (indispensable) during the war and entrusted him with armaments tasks.

After the end of World War II, the French kept him imprisoned for 37 months. Hahnemann then returned to Opel and was an Opel wholesaler in Freiburg im Breisgau until 1957 . This was followed by four years as Marketing Director at Auto Union in Düsseldorf before he was appointed to the Board of Management of Bayerische Motorenwerke in 1961 as Sales Director . There he developed a successful marketing concept: between the type programs of the major automobile manufacturers, he tracked down “market niches” into which he penetrated with handy, sporty sedans. Their elaborate chassis and high-performance motors were developed rationally according to the modular principle. The concept let BMW emerge with a profit even from the crisis year 1967. BMW driver Franz Josef Strauss therefore gave Hahnemann the name "Niche Paul".

In 1966 he played a major role in the fact that Hans Glas GmbH in Dingolfing was taken over by BMW. In this way, BMW was able to expand its production capacities, which were urgently needed due to its growth. Hahnemanns also initiated the development of a plastic automobile. BMW and Bayer AG developed the vehicle together, but the project ultimately failed because of the costs. The construction of the BMW corporate headquarters on Petuelring (" four-cylinder "), a symbol of Munich, is closely associated with the name Paul G. Hahnemann.

Hahnemann retired as deputy chairman of the BMW board in 1972, but afterwards worked for years in the “Ausgedinge” (as he himself once wrote) as a management consultant and restructuring company for large companies in German industry. In autumn he often went to the Bühlerhöhe for a cure .

Honors

literature

  • The niche (issue 1/95). BMW 02 Club e. V. (available online: information and print title pages), foreword by Paul G. Hahnemann “The emergence of the niche”

Web links

Commons : Paul G. Hahnemann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Team Andexer - Hahnemann's Legacy . auto-motor-und-sport.de; accessed on February 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ Paul. G. Hahnemann . In: Der Spiegel . No. 37 , 1969, p. 166 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Technology / plastic car - "Ham made of foam" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , 1967, p. 182-184 ( online ).
  4. ↑ The BMW "four-cylinder" - the headquarters of the BMW Group. In: 7-forum.com. Linus Fecker, accessed November 21, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Hahnemann, Paul G.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Niche Paule
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German manager, first sales director at BMW
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1997
Place of death Munich