Werner Breitschwerdt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Werner Breitschwerdt (born September 23, 1927 in Stuttgart ; † December 20, 2021 there ) was a German manager and engineer. From 1983 to 1987 he was Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG . As head of development, he was responsible for the development of numerous series of the group. He was also Honorary Senator of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg , Honorary Professor of the University of Karlsruhe and Dr.-Ing. e. H. of the Ruhr University Bochum. In 2009 Werner Breitschwerdt was inducted into the European Automotive Hall of Fame for his achievements in the field of automotive development.

Life

Breitschwerdt studied physics up to the intermediate diploma at the TH Stuttgart and passed the diploma examination in electrical engineering in 1952. From April 1953 Breitschwerdt worked in various functions and areas of responsibility at Daimler-Benz AG . Initially, he worked in the car body tests at the Sindelfingen plant before becoming head of the series design office for car bodies in 1960 and head of the car testing department in October 1963. In 1965 he was appointed head of department in the car body experiment, and in 1967 department director. In 1971 Breitschwerdt was appointed deputy director in the area of ​​car bodies and thus a representative of Karl Wilfert, the head of the area, which Breitschwerdt finally took over in 1973 as his successor. In 1974 he was also appointed head of overall stylistics.

At the beginning of 1977 Breitschwerdt became a member of the board of management at Daimler-Benz and in 1978 took over the development and research department as the successor to Hans Scherenberg . After the sudden death of Gerhard Prinz in 1983, Breitschwerdt was appointed chairman of the board. After he was increasingly competing with CFO Edzard Reuter and Mercedes-Benz board member Werner Niefer , he handed over the office to Reuter in 1987. From 1988 to 1993 Breitschwerdt was a member of the supervisory board, later also that of Continental AG , MTU Friedrichshafen and Züblin AG . During his time as Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG, global group sales increased by more than 60 percent. The group's annual surplus rose for the 1986 financial year by almost 80 percent to a good 1.7 billion marks. During his term of office, around 16,000 new jobs were created at Daimler-Benz AG alone.

Under Breitschwerdt's leadership in development and research, several new generations of vehicles were created: the S-Class of the W 126 series (1979 to 1991), the medium-sized W 124 series (1984 to 1995) and the SL R 129 series (1989 to 2001). His name is also closely linked to the 190 ( W 201 ) that came onto the market in 1982. New developments such as the multi-link rear axle (" multi-link axle") were installed for the first time in the 190.

In addition to his developments for the passenger car models, Breitschwerdt also set significant accents in the expansion and further development of the Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle range. He continued the philosophy of vehicle safety and occupant protection represented by Daimler-Benz . Under his responsibility, Daimler-Benz also made significant progress in terms of the economy and environmental friendliness of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Breitschwerdt was largely responsible for the development of new assistance and safety systems in the 1970s and 1980s. The introduction of the anti-lock braking system or the airbag fell within his scope. He was also responsible for the European joint project PROMETHEUS (program for a European transport system with the highest efficiency and unprecedented safety, Program for European Traffic with Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety). It was launched in 1986 under his chairmanship and ran for eight years as a cooperation between several European car manufacturers, electronics and supplier companies, universities and institutes. This resulted in numerous technologies with great benefits, which Mercedes-Benz implemented in specific technical products, such as the intelligent DISTRONIC PLUS cruise control or the PRE-SAFE® automatic brake.

In 1990 he took over the management, later the advisory board chair for the billion project Potsdamer Platz. In addition, he dedicates himself to his own entrepreneurial commitments. He was Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Daimler and Benz Foundation , Honorary Senator of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg , Honorary Professor of the University of Karlsruhe and Dr.-Ing. e. H. of the Ruhr University Bochum . On March 3, 2009, Werner Breitschwerdt was inducted into the European Automotive Hall of Fame, whose award he personally accepted. Werner Breitschwerdt is the sixth personality to be inducted into the European Automotive Hall of Fame and who is associated with Daimler AG and its predecessor companies. This honor was given to the founding fathers Carl Benz (2001) and Gottlieb Daimler (2001) as well as Wilhelm Maybach (2004), Béla Barényi (2007), and Bruno Sacco (2007). Breitschwerdt was a "Personally Supporting Member" of the Max Planck Society .

honors and awards

Career history

  • April 16, 1953: Joins Daimler-Benz AG, the test department for development of car bodies at the Sindelfingen plant
  • 1960: Head of Series Construction for Car Superstructures
  • October 1963: Head of the car testing department
  • May 1, 1965: Appointment as head of department in the experiment on car bodies
  • July 15, 1967: Department Director
  • July 27, 1971: Deputy Director in the Car Body Division and representative of Karl Wilfert, Head of Car Body Development
  • May 24, 1972: Power of attorney
  • July 1, 1973: Appointment as director and head of development for car bodies
  • January 1, 1974: Additional takeover of the stylistics division
  • January 20, 1977: Deputy member of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG
  • March 21, 1978: Member of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG, Development and Research
  • March 1979: Appointment as honorary professor by the University of Karlsruhe
  • December 1, 1983: Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG
  • September 1, 1987: Resignation of the chairman of the board
  • 1988–1993: Member of the Supervisory Board of Daimler-Benz AG
  • 1990s: Member of the supervisory board of the planning company Bahnbau Deutsche Einheit
  • March 3, 2009: Admission to the European Automotive Hall of Fame

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ex-boss died. In: sueddeutsche.de , December 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
personal data
SURNAME Breitschwerdt, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German manager, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG (1983–1987)
BIRTH DATE September 23, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Stuttgart