Polensky & Zöllner

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Polensky & Zöllner (PZ) was a German construction company with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main . The company was founded in 1880 and until its bankruptcy in 1987 was one of the largest European companies in the field of building construction , civil engineering and civil engineering . In addition to branches in Munich, Cologne, Dortmund, Hanover, Hamburg, Berlin, Salzburg, Vienna, Baghdad , Abu Dhabi , Riyadh and Muscat, there were holdings in the USA, Greece and Nigeria. The long-standing chairmen of the board of directors of Polensky & Zöllner were the bridge designer Hans Wittfoht and the civil engineer Hermann Brunner . Individual locations were continued under the name Polensky & Zöllner, so there is still a company in Abu Dhabi today.

history

1880-1918

On September 24, 1880 Gustav Polensky (1846–1908) founded a construction company as a sole proprietorship in Driesen (now Drezdenko in Poland). He had previously worked in railway and road construction and, with his company, was able to successfully cope with the first orders in these areas in the eastern provinces of the German Empire. While looking for a business partner, he convinced his friend, master bricklayer August Zöllner (1846 - 1902), to open a joint construction company. In 1884 Gustav Polensky's sole proprietorship was transformed into Polensky & Zöllner OHG .

In the founding years, the main focus was on earthworks, roads, railways and hydraulic engineering. The first major order that made the company known nationwide were two lots from the Kiel Canal with an order value of 8.5 million marks. Other noteworthy major contracts were the construction of the Oldersum sea lock on the Ems, including a dike and the deepening of the Ems, and the construction of the embankment for the Hochdonn railway bridge .

In 1904, Polensky's sons Otto (1873–1936) and Gustav junior took over. (1876–1940) took over the company, and Fritz Polensky (1876–1959) followed in 1912 .

1918-1945

After the First World War , Polensky & Zöllner expanded its range of services to include concrete and reinforced concrete construction and, in addition to its previous focus, concentrated on larger infrastructure projects. At the same time, the company expanded by opening branches in Munich, Cologne, Berlin, Magdeburg and Vienna and successfully completed several large construction projects abroad (Belgium, France, Yugoslavia, Romania). The most important construction projects of these years include the Mittelland Canal and the Grossglockner High Alpine Road (each section), the construction of a sea lock in Dunkirk , the Saale Dam and extensive railway lines and bridges throughout the German Empire, including on the Berlin underground and S-Bahn network .

At the time of National Socialism, Polensky & Zöllner was initially heavily involved in the construction of the motorways throughout the German Empire, later also in the construction of bunkers, airfields and the construction of the West Wall . On January 1, 1939, the company was converted into a limited partnership. In addition to Gustav and Fritz Polensky, several leading employees were included in the group of shareholders for the first time.

During the Second World War, like all larger German construction companies, the company carried out orders within the framework of the Todt Organization throughout the entire Wehrmacht-occupied Europe. This included B. the construction of individual sections of the polar orbit in Norway. One of the largest construction sites was the construction of the armament bunker in Mühldorfer Hart near Mühldorf am Inn , in which at least 3,076 workers from concentration and labor camps perished (see literature by Peter Müller).

1945-1987

After the Second World War, Polensy & Zöllner lost many workers and more than half of their work equipment as well as the Driesen company headquarters and branches in the Soviet zone of occupation . After a temporary company headquarters in Lahde , the new administration on Neue Mainzer Strasse in Frankfurt am Main was moved into in 1953 . A mechanical engineering plant was built in Mühldorf am Inn. Later the headquarters moved from the center of Frankfurt to the outskirts of Fechenheim .

As a result of the destruction of the Second World War, Polensky & Zöllner also became active in building construction after 1945 . Other important business areas were road, bridge and waterway construction, the construction of dams and storage plants, the construction of power plants and industrial plants, the construction of railways and the construction of subways. With this, Polensky & Zöllner developed into one of the leading construction companies in Germany. The company was involved in the construction of several structures that were formative in their architectural significance, including the Olympic Stadium in Munich, the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, the Köhlbrand Bridge in Hamburg and the Deutsche Bank high-rise in Frankfurt am Main. Special expertise was built up under Hans Wittfoht in bridge construction, which led to collaboration on several complex bridge construction contracts, including the Salingsund Bridge and the Faro Bridge . The important thing was the development of the cantilever structure , which made progress in prestressed concrete bridges possible. There was rivalry to Dyckerhoff & Widmann ( Ulrich Finsterwalder ), both technically and legally, and the development was also driven by Fritz Leonhardt and his engineering office, so that Germany achieved a leading position here.

Internationalization has also been promoted since the mid-1960s. In addition to construction sites in other European countries (Denmark, Italy, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey), the Middle East became one of the most important fields of activity (Abu Dhabi, Iraq, Oman and Saudi Arabia). In Iraq, Polensky & Zöllner was at times the largest construction company. There were also construction sites in Africa (Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria). In the USA there had been a stake in Limbach Inc. since the early 1980s.

In 1987 the group had to file for bankruptcy. The triggers were the weak domestic construction sector and the heavy dependency on construction activities in Iraq, for which there were considerable arrears in payments in the course of the Iraq-Iran war .

Continuation of the name

Parts of the group continued under the old name even after the bankruptcy. The Salzburg location belonged to the Maculan Group and existed until its bankruptcy in 1996. The Abu Dhabi location still exists today as a company owned by Heberger Bau AG .

Buildings (selection)

building

bridges

Streets, tunnels and canals

Power plants

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Stiglat in the review of Wittfoht Bridge Builders from Passion , Stahlbau, Volume 74, 2005, Issue 10