Reinold Hagen

Reinold Hagen (born January 1, 1913 in Siegburg ; † August 23, 1990 ) was a German entrepreneur in the field of plastics processing and mechanical engineering .

Reinold Hagen, who came from Siegburg , founded the electroplating workshops there in 1935 and relocated them to Holzlar after the war . After renaming to "Kautex-Werke" and a programmatic change of direction, Hagen succeeded in expanding the company into one of the leading plastics processors in the Federal Republic of Germany. The extrusion (inflation) of hollow bodies became his specialty, as well as the development and construction of the necessary machines, which were also exported worldwide. In addition, Hagen was an extremely socially committed Christian in his community. He was married to Änne Lütz (1904–1987) since 1938. Between 1939 and 1945 they had three daughters and two sons: Marlene, Reinold, Rita, Irmgard and Winfried.

education

Reinold Hagen was born on January 1, 1913 as the eldest son of the couple Theodor Hagen (1875–1934) and Magdalene Hagen. Goergens (1887–1964) born in Siegburg . The family had seven more children by 1926. Theodor Hagen was u. a. drafted into military service, but he managed to continue his architectural office after the war. Reinold Hagen developed the desire to become an engineer early on. After graduating from elementary school and secondary school in Siegburg, he began a traineeship at Klöckner-Mannstaedt-Werke in Troisdorf . In April 1933 he switched to the State Higher Technical School for Precious Metals Industry in Schwäbisch Gmünd, which he left after two semesters with a degree in electroplating (metal finishing). In 1934 he took up his first job at Robert Bosch AG in Stuttgart, but his long-term goal was to be self-employed with his own factory. After his father's death, Reinold Hagen moved back to Siegburg in 1935 and took over economic responsibility for his mother and younger siblings. At the age of 22 he took the risk of self-employment.

Company formation

From August 1935 he built a small factory at Wilhelmstrasse 165 in Siegburg, the "Galvanische Werkstätten Reinold Hagen". The factory specialized in metallic surface treatments. In March 1936 he was drafted into the Reich Labor Service . After his dismissal, he concentrated on the technical expansion of the factory, while his future wife Änne Lütz took over the accounting. Since the electroplating workshops were classified as an important operation in the war, Reinold Hagen was not obliged to do military service and also produced with the help of slave labor. In addition to electroplating , Hagen experimented with PVC and produced semi-finished plastic products.

Kautex

On March 6, 1945, the Siegburg plant was completely destroyed by an air raid and rebuilt in Holzlar in the following months . With the renaming from "Galvanische Werke" to "Kautex" (today Kautex Textron and Kautex Maschinenbau), Hagen demonstrated a new beginning after the war. His wealth of ideas and his will to build were unshakable. In 1947 he employed 47 people again. The shrink tubing went into production in 1949 after Reinold Hagen's brother Norbert Hagen had developed a process with which tightly fitting plastic covers or sheaths could be drawn onto profiles. Due to a manufacturing error, Reinold Hagen came up with the idea of inflating the plastic in a targeted manner, as has been done with glass for centuries. His brother Norbert took up the idea and in 1950 developed the first 10-liter balloon made of polyethylene, the world's first large, seamlessly blown container. Transferring blow molding technology from glass to plastic was the Hagen brothers' greatest innovation. They reached it through improvisation, initiative and ideas and thus embodied the hobbyist innovation typical of Germany.

The number of employees at Kautex rose from 47 (1947) to 1,400 (1966), and production was barely able to keep pace with rising demand. Kautex plants in Bonn-Holzlar and Bonn-Duisdorf for hollow body production and the associated mechanical engineering were gradually expanded. The machines for hollow body production were produced by Kautex-Maschinenbau in Holzlar , but this part of the company was sold to Krupp in 1976. In 1963, Hagen's company owned 120 patents at home and abroad, including the plastic petrol canister, which was officially approved for the first time in 1963. Battery tanks made of plastic , which became popular in German households from 1968 due to their corrosion resistance, can also be traced back to Reinold Hagen. In 1973 the VW Passat was fitted with a Kautex petrol tank as standard for the first time . This marked the beginning of a new and groundbreaking development for the automotive industry. In addition, technical hollow bodies for electrical household appliances were developed and produced.

The Kautex company has undergone several corporate restructurings over the years. Registered as a GmbH in 1972, it became an AG in 1982 with Reinold Hagen as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. His son Reinold Hagen jun. worked as an industrial engineer in his father's company. In order to carry his life's work beyond his death, however, Reinold Hagen sold the company (now Kautex Textron ) in 1989 and founded the Dr. Reinold Hagen Foundation, whose non-profit status was recognized in 1990. The foundation initiates projects in the field of education and research, especially in plastics technology with a focus on blow molding and mechanical engineering, commercial-technical training and further education as well as projects for career choice orientation. The foundation is thus active in the spirit of the founder, because Reinold Hagen always attached great importance to the training and further education of his employees.

Private engagement

In his private life, Reinold Hagen preferred the Eifel recreation area to long trips. In Stahlhütte an der Ahr, he bought an estate and converted it according to his ideas, initiated a camping site that still exists there today, and created fish ponds. Reinold Hagen devoted himself to local politics on a voluntary basis, following the example of his parents. His father Theodor Hagen was a city councilor in Siegburg from 1910 to 1916, his mother was elected a member of the Center Party in the district council in 1933 and manager of the district association Sieg of the Bund der Kinderreich. Reinold Hagen was one of the founders of the CDU of the Siegkreis and was mayor of the municipality of Holzlar from 1948 to 1964 , and of the Menden office from 1961 to 1964. In his community of Holzlar, he supported associations in a variety of ways. His social commitment in the parish goes back to the character of the extended family in which he was brought up according to Christian standards. He and his wife Änne were deeply rooted in the Catholic faith and community and both generously supported the Steyler missionaries . In 1951 Reinold Hagen became chairman of a working group for the construction of the Christ-König-Kirche , which his brother architect Hermann Hagen, who also continued to run the architecture office of her father Theodor Hagen, designed and implemented. After the foundation of the new parish, Reinold Hagen became second chairman of the church council in 1955.

Awards

• 1956 Appointment as a knight of the papal New Year's Eve because of his commitment to the Christ König parish and the Steyler missionaries
• 1966 Awarded an honorary doctorate from the San Carlos University of the Philippines in recognition of his achievements in business, his international work and the promotion of humanitarian work overseas
• Numerous specialist awards from the industry

swell

• Barbara Hillen: Dr. Reinold Hagen. Visionary and designer. In: Siegburger Blätter. No. 43, September 2013, ed. from the historical archive of the city of Siegburg.

Web links

• http://www.hagen-stiftung.de/
• http://www.kautex.de/
• http://www.kautex-group.com/de/