Vogtland machine factory
| Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG (VOMAG)
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1881 (as Vogtland machine factory JC & H. Dietrich ) |
| Seat | Plauen , Germany |
| Number of employees | up to 6000 |
| Branch | Mechanical engineering , automobile manufacturers , defense industry |
The Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG (VOMAG) was a major player in the Saxon town of Plauen . From the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, it was an important employer for up to 6,000 employees, making it one of the largest companies in Plauen's history. VOMAG was founded in 1881 as a result of the strong regional embroidery industry , as there was a great need to repair the numerous hand embroidery machines . Later, regional embroidery machine construction and embroidery trades influenced each other. The production of the famous Plauen lace , which gave the city its international reputation, was therefore also due to the embroidery machines manufactured by VOMAG . The development of Plauen from 1900 onwards was often associated with the name VOMAG. Shortly after Plauen became a major city with 100,000 inhabitants in 1904, VOMAG was among the world's best in the production of embroidery machines. In addition, printing machines , trucks , buses and tanks were also part of VOMAG's production range.
After the Second World War , handcarts were made for a short time . A few months later the machines were withdrawn as reparations and the production halls were dismantled. In 1948, the Vogtland machine works was founded as a state-owned company and became the successor to VOMAG.
History of VOMAG
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The beginning of mechanical engineering in Plauen
In 1881 two entrepreneurs founded the Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik JC & H. Dietrich, initially with a small factory in the Trockentalstrasse. Production initially concentrated on the manufacture of hand and shuttle embroidery machines. Production grew and the number of employees doubled within a few years. As early as 1895, the company was converted into a stock corporation in order to obtain more capital for further expansion. The Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG , or VOMAG for short, was created, which a little later expanded its factory to include several branches of production (e.g. in 1899 to produce rotary printing and precision drilling machines ).
Rapid rise of VOMAG
From 1900 VOMAG was one of the leading mechanical engineering companies in Germany and enjoyed a good international reputation. One of the main reasons was the wide range of products with which the company was able to react quickly to global trends. In 1902, construction began on a new plant on Cranachstrasse and Holbeinstrasse, which was continuously expanded until 1914. In 1910, at the suggestion of Director Robert Zahn, VOMAG developed the first fully automatic embroidery machine, which became a worldwide sales success and export hit. At that time, VOMAG was the world market leader in the field of embroidery machines, which it exported to France , Russia and North America , among others . VOMAG was particularly valued for the high quality and durability of its machines. With the support of Cašpar Hermann , the plant built the first rotary offset printing machine in 1912 .
The business of war
After the outbreak of World War I , VOMAG started producing trucks that were to be manufactured on behalf of OHL . The guidelines of the Army Command primarily provided for the production of the so-called “ Rule 3-Toners ”, a three- tonne truck with a chain drive . For this purpose, two large multi-storey buildings with a steel foundry were built between 1915 and 1917 on the White Elster, with a total working area of 14,000 m² for truck production. The first series of 30 vehicles was delivered as early as July 1916. Due to the huge backlog of truck production (in 1914 only about 9,500 trucks were registered in the Reich ) for the army, the war was good business for VOMAG, and so it seemed only logical that VOMAG should focus on the production of trucks secured even more arms contracts. So were z. B. grenades , grenade mines and aviator projectiles produced.
When the thousandth truck was delivered in 1918, it had risen to become one of the largest armaments manufacturers in the army within four years , and by the end of 1918 VOMAG employed around 3800 workers. In order to gain a foothold in the civil truck sector, “VOMAG Lastkraftwagen GmbH” was founded in Munich on October 24, 1916 . As a result, VOMAG continued its company tradition and created another successful mainstay during peacetime with the production of civilian trucks and buses (from 1919).
Peace production
In the following years, VOMAG succeeded in winning large orders from the Free State of Saxony, such as for buses (1919) and special vehicles from the municipal utilities . Due to the increased demand for motor vehicles, VOMAG expanded in 1919 and bought a large area (approx. 120,000 m²) on Leuchtsmühlenweg. In addition to the existing Plant I, the buildings of the former Plauen artificial silk factory were expanded to create the new Plant II under the most modern aspects. In the same year, as Plant III, the systems of the Embroidery Industry Company near Plant I were bought. VOMAG had firmly established itself on the motor vehicle market, and so in 1919 one of the co-founders of the "DAK" ( German automobile group ) which, in addition to VOMAG, also included Presto , Magirus and Dux . However, the DAK broke up in 1926 due to disputes between its founders. By increasing its share capital several times, VOMAG was able to meet its high standards and establish itself in the elite of German vehicle manufacturers. She had increased her property to 89,000 m², of which 46,900 m² were built on.
At that time, VOMAG vehicles had a major impact on traffic. By the end of 1921, for example, more than 2000 VOMAG trucks were in use in urban and intercity traffic. Despite its great success, VOMAG was always looking for new branches of production. It began the production of looms in 1921 , whereby the so-called "automatic machines" were a world first. From 1923, VOMAG was the first German manufacturer to develop low-frame buses. The concept, which was developed in the USA as early as 1914 , had advantages due to the lower center of gravity of the vehicle due to the minimized risk of tipping over and low entry height. As early as autumn 1924, the first low-frame bus of the "Riesa" type (30 seats) was put into operation in the town of the same name. With numerous innovations like these, VOMAG confirmed its reputation as an innovative and global market-oriented company.
From 1921 to 1924, VOMAG was able to more than quadruple its share capital, and the workforce grew to 6,000. After two currency reforms as a result of inflation, VOMAG converted its entire share capital to the new Reichsmark on July 1, 1924. The share capital, which had previously grown to 180 million marks ( paper marks ), was converted at a ratio of 1000: 45 and then amounted to 8.1 million Reichsmarks . Despite solid financial figures, VOMAG experienced a rapid decline in demand in the years that followed, which was accompanied by a steady decline in the company. While 644 trucks were still being produced in 1925/26, in the following business year there were only about 302 trucks. A clear trend emerged which was to end in VOMAG's struggle for existence. The delivery of the 5,000th vehicle since Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG was founded could not hide this fact.
The bankruptcy
Due to the global economic crisis triggered by the New York stock market crash ( Black Friday ) and the resulting decline in sales at VOMAG, the company had to lay off numerous employees and take out loans in 1929 in order to maintain production operations. Production has been reduced to a minimum. In 1930 only 15–20 vehicles were produced per month.
Due to its increasing financial hardship, on June 28, 1930, VOMAG had to terminate the "Agreement on the payment of above-standard piecework wages", which had existed since 1925. This was followed by a strike by the entire workforce on July 22nd, which has since shrunk to 1,600 employees. Ultimately, the entire operation was temporarily shut down on July 25 and only resumed on September 4.
The business year 1929/30 brought VOMAG a loss for the first time, and in the following business year the company only worked with 50% of its capacity. This resulted in 161 truck production in the 1930/31 financial year (five times as much was produced in 1925/26).
On June 30, 1931, an economic report by the Sächsische Revisions- und Treuhandgesellschaft AG Leipzig found a total loss of 7,521,454 Reichsmarks. To ensure the continued existence of VOMAG and to fulfill existing orders, the VOMAG Betriebs-AG Plauen was founded as a rescue company on March 16, 1932 with a start-up capital of 300,000 Reichsmarks. Through a capital consolidation, the share capital should shrink to 180,000 Reichsmarks, thereby freeing up the funds to maintain VOMAG's minimal operation. This project did not succeed, and bankruptcy was opened on May 9, 1932 . These were the largest bankruptcy proceedings by an automobile manufacturer in the Weimar Republic . The proceedings dragged on for nine years and resulted in numerous criminal proceedings against the management and the main shareholder Albert Ottenheimer due to balance sheet concealment, balance sheet falsification and breach of trust . For example, the annual balance sheet for 1930/31 was held back for eight months.
At that time, VOMAG could only employ 500 people. In order to process existing orders of around 400,000 Reichsmarks, VOMAG Betriebs-AG Plauen took over Plant I and II and the sales rights for VOMAG products for the first six months. Thus the existence of VOMAG was secured for the time being.
The reasons for the bankruptcy of VOMAG included not only missing or late payments by customers (which were undoubtedly also due to the global economic crisis), but also restrictive economic measures by the Reich government and the Reichsbahn (Schenker contract, new motor vehicle tax laws). In addition, mistakes by the management and, last but not least, the general uncertainty in the freight industry led to the company's economic collapse. However, the dry spell should not last long.
New upswing
Shortly after the National Socialists came to power , there was an economic boost for the automotive industry as part of the new government's extensive economic development and construction program. Above all, rearmament was the driving force behind the economic engine of the German Reich. The automotive industry benefited from recognizing the value of trucks for German industry, and so there were subsidies for new truck purchases and a reduction in the vehicle tax burden. The reforms brought VOMAG full order books; however, there were problems that prevented further expansion of the company on an even larger scale. On the one hand, there were not enough well-trained personnel for the automotive industry in Plauen to implement a three-shift operation , and on the other hand, the procurement of special materials ( special steels ) was difficult, as these were needed for arming the Wehrmacht . In addition to the increasing number of civilian orders, it was often the orders of the Reich government on which VOMAG could rely. In August 1935, the company was involved in a development program for the “standard truck” for the Wehrmacht. However, VOMAG was not awarded the contract because it did not have enough production capacity. Fatefully, she was compensated for this with tank orders. VOMAG quickly regained its good reputation around the world and year after year came up with innovations on the truck market. The company's economic consolidation is also reflected in the employment figures, which between 1935 and 1939 reached the 4,000 person mark. For marketing reasons, the former rescue company, VOMAG Betriebs-AG, was renamed VOMAG Maschinenfabrik AG , and the production of the eight thousandth vehicle was celebrated at the same time.
At first, when the war began in 1939, VOMAG was not given the prospect of profitable armaments contracts. It looked as if VOMAG could not benefit significantly from this new war. The only obligation was to force the production of vehicles with wood gas engines for the "home front", but more profitable armaments contracts for truck construction did not materialize.
The armaments company VOMAG from 1940 to 1945
When the war began in 1939, there was initially great disenchantment in the ranks of VOMAG. There had been hopes that they would participate in the huge arms production of the Third Reich , but there were initially no major orders. This was problematic for VOMAG, as the war had significantly reduced the demand for civilian vehicles. Nevertheless, truck production in the years 1939–1945 still accounted for almost 50% of VOMAG's total sales. But sales threatened to fall further and plunge the company into another crisis. The army command quickly realized, however, that because of the extremely intense war they needed every commercial enterprise for the armaments industry. As early as 1940, VOMAG started repairing tanks on behalf of the Wehrmacht and shortly afterwards began producing tracked vehicles . In 1940, however, this accounted for only 3% of total sales.
In 1939, the VOMAG production site had grown to 14 hectares, on which 16 low-rise buildings and seven multi-storey buildings were built. Six buildings with a total working area of around 39,000 m² were made available for tank production from 1940 onwards. To significantly increase tank production in 1941, VOMAG had to expand again. To the left of the Elster on Leuchtsmühlenweg, large parts of the “Weißer Stein” gardens were bought up in order to build their own final tank assembly hall. The tank hall, which was finally completed in 1943, extended over an area of 18,000 m² and was connected to the railway network by the so-called tank bridge.
Since the company's capacities were not yet sufficient for the series production of one type of tank in large numbers, the focus was on the production of the "heavy half-track vehicle" (18-tonne Sd.Kfz. 9 ), which began in 1940 and 1941 . Before tank production started in full in 1942 with around 240 tanks produced, attempts were initially made in 1941 to produce carrier vehicles for anti-aircraft guns and the manufacture of electrically controlled machine-gun stands for aircraft. However, only 24 vehicles for the 8.8 cm flak were delivered to the Wehrmacht. The production of the MG stands had to be given up again in 1942. From this point on, VOMAG concentrated fully on tank production. In 1942, the VOMAG management submitted a cost calculation to the Army High Command in Berlin for the production of a prototype of the Panzerkampfwagen IV "Version G".
On October 8, 1942, VOMAG was renamed "Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik Akt.-Ges.", And at the same time the number of employees reached an all-time high. With the nearing completion of the tank hall, the tank program was pushed again. VOMAG had largely completed the conversion to the armaments company and had become a model company for German armaments. For this, on May 1, 1943, they received the Gau's diploma from the Gauleiter for outstanding performance in the service of the Wehrmacht. After two years of construction, the new tank final assembly hall was completed as the future core of the armaments factory. The newly built production facility, the technical know-how and the 2,500 skilled workers who were specially assigned to the tank production formed good conditions for the series production of armored vehicles. From 1942 until VOMAG ceased production of the Panzer IV in early summer 1944, a total of 1,374 units of this type were made in Plauen.
In October 1943, the first armored vehicle designed entirely by VOMAG, the Jagdpanzer IV , rolled off the assembly line . A wooden model of this tank destroyer was shown to Adolf Hitler in May. He was impressed by the flat design and classified the vehicle as "important to the war effort". Apart from one type produced by Alkett and only valid as an interim solution, VOMAG was the only manufacturer of the Jagdpanzer IV. In total, VOMAG produced 1,700 units. The production of the Jagdpanzer IV was a success, but it could no longer influence the course of the war; In the end, it was only two years in which VOMAG was able to produce its self-designed model.
From December 1944 to April 1945 there was a subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp in the Mehltheuer tulle factory , in which around 350 female prisoners had to do forced labor for VOMAG .
Objective "VOMAG Tank Factory"
Since the VOMAG was a priority target for the Allied troops in 1945, the USAAF ( United States Army Air Forces ) developed a very precise bomb and attack plan for the plant, in which it was classified as a load-bearing armaments plant. That is why Plauen is listed several times in the pilot's logs as a “primary target”. Allied documents show that there were a total of nine direct attacks on VOMAG over six days of fighting. The USAAF's 8th Air Force flew all nine direct attacks with B-17G “Flying Fortress” bombers and escorts with the dreaded North American P-51 Mustang or the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt . According to American tactics, all nine attacks took place during the day, always around noon between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. In addition, there was insufficient anti-aircraft defense in Plauen, which is also documented in numerous aircraft reports and diary entries. One speaks of a permanently installed quadruplet flak on the Comeniusberg and possibly another mobile railway gun. Plauen offered an easy target for large-scale air strikes, which explains the nature of the attacks. Two massive air strikes with almost 500 B-17 bombers were enough for the USAAF to shut down VOMAG's production. Due to the lack of anti-aircraft defense on the adjacent hills, even low-flying aircraft were able to attack VOMAG. Here, two directions of attack can also be precisely proven on the basis of the hit location on the VOMAG armored bridge. As already mentioned in the treatise on arms production, work in the tank hall did not come to a complete standstill until March 26, 1945 after a massive air strike. As a terrible "by-product", the Plauen city center in particular was destroyed. The only positive thing was that the very well organized air raid protection measures on the VOMAG site meant that there was only one victim to complain about. Between September 1944 and April 1945 a total of 5,745 tons of bombs were dropped over Plauen, of which around 2,800 were in attacks on VOMAG. With 185.4 tons per square kilometer, Plauen was the most heavily bombed city in Saxony, and with over 75% (including approx. 34% total loss) it also had the highest degree of destruction among the five major cities in Saxony.
The tank hall 1941–1945
In 1941, VOMAG began to buy land on the left of the Elster for the construction of new production halls, on which the largest production facility for the Jagdpanzer IV in the entire German Reich was built.
Location and environment
If you drive on the Holbeinstraße north of the lower train station along the White Elster towards the west, you will first pass the Elsterwehr. Then you can see the industrial park on the left, which was built on the area of the former VOMAG main site. The VOMAG head office was located here on Cranachstrasse from 1903 to 1945. Starting with the so-called U-building for the administration, the entire production extended there with foundry, own forge and assembly halls z. B. for printing machines. If you follow the White Elster upstream, you can see the armored bridge and behind it the area of the "Plauener Gardine". The final tank assembly hall was located almost exactly there.
Construction and function
Like every company, VOMAG tried to expand in order to be able to increase production and product range, but when the construction of a new final assembly hall began in 1941, a new, momentous chapter in the VOMAG company history was opened. This hall was officially built in order to further expand the truck production, which was running at full speed, but the building, which was built under strict secrecy, was soon known as the tank hall, in which up to 1500 tanks (1944) could be manufactured annually. The newly built hall had three transport ramps with rail connections. Here the tanks, which weigh up to 30 tons, could be loaded directly onto the railroad cars. When the tank hall was completed in 1943, VOMAG had great ambitions to become one of the leading tank manufacturers in the Third Reich. The tank end assembly hall was 180 meters long on its longer side facing the Elster, and the other side was 100 meters long, the height of the hall was about ten meters. The tank hall was built to be extremely robust in view of the impending bomb attacks. However, when the Allied troops intensified their bombing raids on VOMAG, the tank hall could no longer withstand either, and production had to be stopped at the end of March 1945 due to severe damage to the production facilities.
The armored bridge
Emergence
When construction work on the tank hall began in 1941, a solution had to be found both for transporting the tanks produced and for transporting the workers to the tank hall. From November 1942, an architecturally extremely remarkable building was built in a short period of time, which has survived to this day. The armored bridge is characterized by its extremely stable construction; even two bomb hits failed to damage the bridge significantly. The structure with a built-on wooden footpath is 60 meters long and leads over the Elster at a 45-degree angle. The bridge is a riveted iron girder bridge (referred to by engineers as a “riveted sheet metal girder bridge with central pillar made of concrete”). The name Panzerbrücke owes this structure to its function as a transport route for the railway wagons loaded with tanks. The tracks ran from the lower station along the Elstertalbahn to Weischlitz and then ran as a siding over the armored bridge. Arriving to the left of the Elster, the transport train reached the loading station in the final assembly hall via several shunting tracks . The connection enabled the tanks and towing vehicles, which weighed up to 26 tons, to be removed quickly.
Damage to the armored bridge and its causes
On closer inspection, there are many small and large bullets scattered all over the bridge. In meticulous work, the damage pattern was evaluated and summarized. Two reports from 1960 and 1991 show that although the armored bridge is badly damaged, there is still no risk that the monument could collapse. A conventionally constructed bridge would not have withstood this damage. The analysis of the hits revealed a direct attack on the tank bridge and tank hall, mainly by low-flying aircraft. Since all hits were recorded in a research paper exactly, it can be seen from this that the bridge was mainly fired at with 12.7 mm machine guns, which were part of the basic equipment of the USAAF fighters, but the hits in most cases the 16 mm the thick base plate of the bridge could not penetrate.
In addition to the 12.7 mm caliber, the report shows that occasional large-caliber bullets can also be found on the bridge. These hits come mainly from on-board cannons and rocket projectiles. If one looks at the hits on the bridge as a whole, it is initially not possible to identify a targeted approach by the low-flying aircraft. For example, the American pilots did not concentrate their fire on one point, but rather every part of the bridge was hit when they attacked. The damage resulting from these attacks is very diverse. In the area in which the bombs fell, there is a strong bulge on the outer wall. On the other hand, when a bullet was shot through the outer wall, almost circular holes were created that reveal the respective caliber of the bullet. Almost no part of the bridge was spared from hits; For example, larger-caliber bullet holes can also be found on the foundation pillar and the foundations of the armored bridge. The majority of the damage is on the respective outer walls of the bridge.
monument
When visiting, there is no indication that the bridge is classified as a monument . It was declared a monument in autumn 2005 because it was of extraordinary importance for VOMAG and thus for arms production in Plauen. The armored bridge is one of the few remaining memorials from the bombing war in Plauen.
Development after 1945
After the Second World War , VOMAG manufactured handcarts, household items, wheelbarrows and other everyday items. In 1946 the entire company was closed and all machines were dismantled as a reparation payment. The halls were blown up. In 1948, the state-owned company Maschinenfabrik Vogtland was founded as the successor company, which in 1953 was renamed VEB Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Vogtland for special machine construction. In 1990, the company was converted into the Vogtland GmbH machine tool factory, with a focus on the automotive and supplier industries. In 2007, the company transferred its entire business operations to WEMA Vogtland GmbH. In 2009, the Saarland-based SVQ GmbH took over the company, which had filed for bankruptcy in 2008 with 182 employees. Since then it has operated under the name of WEMA VOGTLAND Technology GmbH. Printing machine production was spun off in 1946 and continued by VEB Plamag Plauener Druckmaschinenfabrik.
List of VOMAG buses
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literature
- Rudolf Hundhausen: Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG Plauen In: Die deutsche Industrie (1888-1913), Berlin 1913 pp. X141-X149.
- Jörg Friedrich: The fire: Germany in the bombing war 1940-1945 . 11th edition, Munich 2002.
- Olaf Groehler : History of the Air War 1910 to 1980 . 3rd edition, Berlin 1981.
- Rudolf Laser: 1944/1945 [nineteen hundred and forty-four ...] Plauen: a city is being destroyed. Plauen 1995.
- Axel Oskar Mathieu: VOMAG: the almost forgotten automobile brand. Berlin-Friedenau 1994, ISBN 3-926-57403-8 .
- Jean Curt Röder: 1945, when the war was over . Plauen 2005.
- Jean Curt Röder: Plauen 1945 ... and the difficult post-war years. Plauen 1998.
- Christian Suhr: VOMAG: a legend in pictures. Reichenbach i. V. 2004, ISBN 3-938-42600-4 .
- Christian Suhr: VOMAG - trucks from Vogtland . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-61387-264-1 .
Web links
- Web presence
- The armored bridge on Google Maps
- Information on air protection at VOMAG
- Successor company's website
- History of VOMAG
- Early documents and newspaper articles on the Vogtland machine factory in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Coordinates: 50 ° 29 ′ 5.1 ″ N , 12 ° 6 ′ 59.3 ″ E