Porcelain factory W. Goebel
The W. Goebel porcelain factory GmbH & Co. KG was a porcelain manufacturer in Oeslau , a district Rödental in Upper Franconia Coburg .
history
The Goebel porcelain factory was founded on January 30, 1871 in Oeslau-Wilhelmsfeld by Franz Detleff and his son William Goebel. In 1911 Max Louis Goebel, son Williams, took over the management. In 1929 this was followed by his son Franz and his son-in-law Eux Stocke , whereby on February 8, 1929 the legal form of the company was converted into a limited partnership. The next generation worked in the company from 1969 with Wilhelm Goebel and Ulrich Stocke. In the sixth generation, the Goebel family was involved as limited partners in the GmbH & Co. KG, founded in 1995, through Christian Goebel and Detlev Stocke, until the company had to file for bankruptcy in 2006.
In 1997, Goebel had 1,310 employees. The range included more than 1000 different figures. However, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York, the demand for the porcelain figures collapsed dramatically. As a result, the traditional company was no longer able to meet its payment obligations in July 2006. The turnover in 2005 was around 100 million euros. On March 7, 2007, the company announced that the US investors Strategic Value Partner and Merrill Lynch would take over Goebel and thus temporarily secure the 400 remaining jobs at the Rödental location. Since then, the company has been operating under the name of Goebel Porzellanmanufaktur GmbH .
On June 18, 2008 it was announced that at the end of 2008 the production of the Hummel figurines would be stopped due to a lack of profitability and another 230 employees would be laid off. The production of the sculptures was discontinued at the end of October 2008, around 230 of the remaining 340 employees switched to a transfer company.
At the beginning of 2009, the Höchst Porcelain Manufactory took over the production of the Hummel figurines . As of February 9, 2009, Hummel figurines were again produced in the old rented production building in Rödental / Coburg with 30 skilled workers under the new Manufaktur Rödental company. In 2011 there were 80 employees. In 2012, the manufactory achieved sales of 5.5 million euros. On August 1, 2013, Goebel terminated the sales contract with the Rödental manufactory. The reasons for this were delivery problems, different ideas about market-driven sales strategies and deadlines for cooperation remuneration that were not met. On August 22, 2013, the managing director of Manufaktur Rödental GmbH filed for bankruptcy. On November 1, 2013, four investors took over the company, which then had 40 employees. In the summer of 2015, most of the company's shares were sold to the American investment company ME Zukerman, employing more than 60 people. The third bankruptcy followed at the end of September 2017 and three months later, the Kulmbach entrepreneur Bernd Förtsch took over the Hummel Manufaktur.
At Goebel Porzellanmanufaktur GmbH, the "gift giving and living" area of the old porcelain factory, which produces gifts and handicrafts, remained. While production takes place outside of Germany, 69 employees (as of 2010) are still employed in Rödental in the development and design of porcelain items and their worldwide sales. The company has been owned by PM Kapital GmbH & Co. KG from Bad Staffelstein since 2010 , which is also a shareholder in the Kaiser-Porzellan GmbH located there .
Designs
Goebel is world-famous as the manufacturer of the "Hummel figures". In 1934 Franz Goebel became aware of the drawings by the Franciscan sister Maria Innocentia Hummel . He signed a license agreement with the Sießen monastery . The modellers Reinhold Unger and Arthur Möller, in collaboration with Maria Innocentia Hummel, made the first 46 porcelain figurine motifs in 1935 based on the images, including the well-known "Wanderer Boy". The production of the high-quality decorative porcelain figures developed into a sales success for decades. Especially in the United States, the Hummel figurines found numerous collectors.
Goebel, for example, produced figural salt and pepper shakers for the US market (e.g. Mickey Mouse ) as early as the 1920s , the example shown from the 1970s shows the rabbit “Thumper” from the Walt Disney film “ Bambi ". The figures were converted into cast models by the modellers employed at Goebel based on the drawing templates.
Today Goebel works with various designers. From 2005 to 2015 many salt and pepper shakers were manufactured for Adam & Ziege under license . Other design partners are Charlotte di Vita, Louis Féraud , “ Mára! “, Julia E. Limpke and Rosina Wachtmeister .
Goebel ceramics and porcelain can easily be dated even by laypeople using the floor mark , as the company has repeatedly changed its floor mark.
Web links
- Goebel homepage
- Detailed company history (English) ( Memento of 31 January 2008 at the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ European Business Network July 26, 2004
- ↑ a b c Hummel figures. New opportunity for Porzellanmanufaktur Goebel . In: Schwäbische Zeitung from January 14, 2009
- ↑ Goebel files for insolvency. Hummel figurines manufacturer is insolvent. The manufacturer of the world-famous Hummel figurines Goebel has filed for insolvency due to impending insolvency . In: Handelsblatt of July 6, 2006
- ↑ Daniela Koehler: End of an era and an uncertain future . In: Neue Presse from June 18, 2008
- ↑ Hummel figures are back. In: Coburger Tageblatt, 7./8. February 2009
- ↑ stilundmarkt.de, newsletter 2014: Hummel figures no longer through Goebel
- ↑ Christoph Scheppe: Insolvency money is safe . In: Neue Presse from September 3, 2013
- ↑ Oliver Schmidt: Maja Manufacture now produces the Hummel figures . In: infranken.de, October 31, 2013
- ↑ DPA: Hummel-Manufaktur goes to investment company from the USA . In: infranken.de, June 2, 2015
- ↑ Goebel porcelain brands
Coordinates: 50 ° 17 ′ 14 ″ N , 11 ° 1 ′ 18 ″ E