Wilhelm Karmann jun.
Wilhelm Karmann (born December 4, 1914 in Krefeld , † October 25, 1998 in Osnabrück ) was a German entrepreneur. He took over the management of Wilhelm Karmann GmbH based in Osnabrück in 1952 and led the company as a contract manufacturer of complete vehicles and as a supplier of pressed parts, production systems and roof modules for convertibles to become a recognized partner of the automotive industry. In addition, he was involved in numerous vehicle developments.
It was the VW Karmann Ghia that made the name Karmann known worldwide. Karmann had presented the coupé version of the VW 1200 designed by Luigi Segre, owner of the Italian bodywork factory Ghia in Turin, to the general manager of the Volkswagen factory, Heinrich Nordhoff , in 1955. Volkswagen liked the soft lines of the coupé and that was how the global success story of the Karmann Ghia began. Karmann's love for open cars has been with Karmann his whole life: Not only did the VW Beetle and then the Golf Cabriolet come from Osnabrück, but also convertibles from Audi, Ford and Mercedes as well as a large number of roof systems as component deliveries. A total of around 3 million vehicles rolled off the production line under the management of Karmann; not only convertibles and coupes, but also other vehicles that were produced in small series.
In 1990 Karmann handed over the management of the company to younger hands, but accompanied and steered the company until his death in 1998 in his function as chairman of the shareholders' meeting and honorary chairman of the supervisory board of Wilhelm Karmann GmbH.
Origin and education
Wilhelm Karmann was the son and third of five children of Wilhelm Karmann I , who on August 1, 1901 had taken over the respected Osnabrück wagon construction company from Christian Klages. Karmann soon made a name for itself in the still young automotive industry through innovative measures - such as the transition from wooden to half-steel and then all-steel bodies. He also introduced quick-drying nitro spray painting as early as 1925. Both were prerequisites for series production of automobiles. He also equipped his factory with large presses and began to manufacture his own pressing tools. In the 1930s, Karmann I became a pioneer in German large-scale production of convertibles and limousines for customers such as the Adlerwerke in Frankfurt / Main or Hanomag in Hanover.
Wilhelm Karmann II joined the company at the age of 19. After an orientation phase, he began an apprenticeship at a southern German bodywork company and at the German Fiat. From 1935 to 1937, at the Berlin technical college for body and vehicle construction, he acquired the theoretical knowledge he needed to work as a designer in Ambi-Budd's production technology after his exams. At the age of 25 he came back to Osnabrück to use the tools he had acquired in Berlin for his own company. But in 1941 he was drafted as a soldier, served in Russia, the Netherlands and Italy and did not return from American captivity in Naples until 1945. Now it was time to rebuild the destroyed factory together with his 74-year-old father. His father died on September 28, 1952 of complications from pneumonia. Karmann assumed overall responsibility. The transition from father to son went smoothly because both had always been in contact with customers and employees together.
Reconstruction and partnership with Volkswagen
In 1945, Karmann and his father set about resuming operations with the remainder of the means of production. For example, more than 100,000 forks and spoons were manufactured for the British Army and Karmann produced 10,000 sheet metal tubs for wheelbarrows for the Harburger Tempo-Werke. More important, however, was the collaboration with the Ford company , with which Karmann had worked well before the war. Karmann bundled the remaining stocks of tools still in East Berlin, restored and modernized them in Osnabrück and delivered them to Cologne. Ford was very satisfied with the way Karmann had repaired the tools and commissioned the Osnabrück company to deliver 2,000 sets of pressed parts. Then the first major order followed. Now Karmann was supposed to deliver 800 flatbed bodies for Ford trucks. And in the spring of 1946, Karmann was commissioned to produce 1,000 cabs for the Hanomag road tractor. Karmann and his father had one goal: they wanted to build automobile bodies again. A big step in this direction was the cooperation between Karmann and the new Auto Union GmbH , on whose behalf the first prototypes of the all-steel sedan and the 4-seater convertible were delivered in August 1949. This order was followed by the production of over 1000 series vehicles for Auto Union GmbH.
At the beginning of 1948, Karmann managed to purchase a Volkswagen sedan, the VW Type 1 , which he converted into a convertible with the help of his father. Together with his father, he presented the convertible in Wolfsburg to Heinrich Nordhoff , who had been General Director of the Volkswagen works since January 1, 1948. In May 1949, Karmann delivered 25 Volkswagen convertibles to the VW test department. And on August 1, 1949, the time had come: Volkswagen ordered “1000 four-seater and four-window convertible type 15” from Karmann at a unit price per body of DM 1900 net ex works. The foundation stone for a permanent partnership with Volkswagen was laid. At that time Karmann employed 642 people; After the death of the company founder and the takeover of the business, there were already over 1400 employees.
In addition to vehicle construction and the press shop, Karmann strongly advocated the further development of toolmaking. The production of complex large tools with which body parts such as fenders, roofs or doors were formed from the steel sheets cost a lot of money and also led to controversial discussions with his father. But Karmann's strategy worked. At the beginning of the 1960s there were only a few types of automobiles in Europe for which Karmann had not supplied any pressing tools or pressed parts.
The Karmann Ghia story
Wilhelm Karmann had the idea in 1953, one year after taking over his father's body shop in Osnabrück. Karmann wanted to produce a sporty and open two-seater on the technical basis of the VW Beetle . Volkswagen was also interested in a sporty roadster that the American soldiers stationed in Europe would love and take with them to the USA.
Luigi Segre , the owner of Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin, was included in the plan for the Geneva Motor Show . He received a chassis for the Beetle from Osnabrück and placed a self-designed body on the chassis. To Karmann's amazement, Luigi Segre then presented him on the edge of the Paris salon not a roadster, but a coupé that could also be turned into a roadster. On the occasion of a short-term appointment in Osnabrück on November 16, 1953, VW boss Heinrich Nordhoff liked the coupé with its flowing lines and rounded shapes so much that he commissioned the construction of the car on the same day.
But what should this car be called? In both Wolfsburg and Osnabrück, despite many suggestions, there was no brilliant idea. It was then Wilhelm Karmann himself who first mentioned the name “ Karmann-Ghia ”. Everyone agreed. Volkswagen was able to adorn itself with the world-famous name Ghia and this name was also the best reference for Italian design for the bodywork in Turin. In the company's long history, the car has carried the Karmann name into the world. On July 14, 1955, Karmann presented the new Volkswagen Coupé in the casino hotel of Georgsmarienhütte , the neighboring city of Osnabrück.
In the first year of production, a total of 10,000 coupés were delivered instead of the planned 3000 units. Johannes Beeskow , who headed technical development from 1956 to 1976, continued to work on this and on many other vehicles at Karmann . The VW Karmann-Ghia was a sales success with over 362,000 copies, even if the performance of the car with only 30 hp and a top speed of 115 km / h did not correspond to the sporty appearance. In 1957 the Karmann-Ghia Cabriolet followed and in 1961 the larger Type 34, the K armann-Ghia 1550 , whose design also came from the Carrozzeria Ghia.
With the Karmann Ghia, but also with the Beetle Cabrio, Wilhelm Karmann has contributed to making the sales rooms of Volkswagen dealers more attractive and appealing. Both types of vehicle were niche products, but their appeal led to the sales of the mass-produced VW Beetle.
In terms of the number of units produced by Karmann, the Karmann-Ghia Coupés and Cabrios were later slightly surpassed by both the Golf Cabriolet and the Scirocco ; if on the other hand together expects the first Karmann Ghia types on coupe and convertible, Karmann Ghia was the most successful vehicle of Karmann .
Years of growth
In addition to the Beetle Cabriolet and the Karmann Ghia, Karmann manufactured all the convertibles for the Golf models as well as the VW Scirocco and VW Corrado sports coupés for Volkswagen . Karmann built other vehicle plants, in 1960 in São Bernardo do Campo (Brazil) and in 1965 in Rheine . In the years from 1965 onwards, Karmann produced complete vehicles and bodies for the BMW Coupé 2000 C / CS (four-cylinder), and later also the larger BMW E9 six-cylinder coupés (2.5 CS, 2.8 CS, 3.0 CS / CSi) in the Westphalian plant in Rheine. From 1976 to the 1980s, Karmann first took over the series production and then the bodyshell of the BMW 6 Series Coupé (628 CSi, 633CSi, 635 CSi). All convertible models of the Ford Escort were delivered as complete vehicles in Rheine.
From 1977 Karmann also manufactured motorhomes under the name Karmann-Mobil. Karmann got the idea for his first motorhome on a trip to South Africa. The first vehicles were built on the basis of a Volkswagen T2, followed by the T3 and LT as well as the Mercedes-Benz T 1. At the same time, the caravan models Postillion 4500 and 5000 were developed and built in Brazil and launched on the market in 1982. Many more motorhomes followed with the type designations Gipsy, Davis and Distance.
A special highlight in Karmann's life was the production anniversary with the Volkswagen factory. On June 23, 1981, the 1.5 millionth car produced in Osnabrück with the Volkswagen emblem rolled off the production line. It was a white Scirocco GTI.
Karmann was Chairman of the Management Board until his 75th birthday in 1989. In 1989 there were many anniversaries to celebrate. Karmann Rheine existed for 25 years. The Golf Cabriolet was 10 years old and Karmann could not only look back on 40 years of cooperation with Volkswagen, but also celebrate his 50th anniversary with the company. His successor in the management was Rainer Thieme, who previously managed Keiper Recaro , a company that manufactured seats for the automotive and aircraft industries. After retiring from operational management, Karmann continued to steer the company in his functions as chairman of the shareholders' meeting and as liable general partner of the holding company Wilhelm Karmann KG. When Karmann took over the company in 1952, 1415 employees achieved a turnover of 24 million DM. In the year of his death, 1998, the turnover of the company group with around 7000 employees increased to over 1.1 billion DM.
Private
In 1947, on a visit to Borkum, Karmann met Christiane Kemper from Minden, who was vacationing with her brothers on the North Sea island. The Karmann couple married on May 24, 1949 and had three children, Wilhelm-Dietrich (* 1951), Christiane (* 1952) and Stephanie (* 1957).
Karmann was the recipient of numerous orders and decorations:
- On April 29, 1977, the Federal Republic of Germany awarded him the Great Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit
- On September 10, 1984, Karmann was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit
- On January 2, 1985, the city of Osnabrück awarded him the Justus Möser Medal
- On December 17, 1993, Karmann was made an honorary senator of the University of Osnabrück
On the occasion of the company's founder’s 100th birthday , Karmann and his co-partners founded the Wilhelm Karmann Foundation on February 14, 1971, initially with a capital of DM one million. The foundation supported projects from the Museum of Cultural History, the Osnabrück Zoo Society, the Museum of Industrial Culture, the University of Osnabrück and the University of Osnabrück funded. The scope of the foundation has increased continuously and amounts to around 3.9 million euros in 2019.
Karmann took on honorary positions in numerous professional organizations and business associations. He was z. B. for many years Vice President of the Osnabrück-Emsland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and also Vice President of the regional industrial employers' association and was involved in the Osnabrück Industrial Club, which his father set up, which sees itself as a mediator between industry, politics and society and also the exchange of common ground serves within the Osnabrück entrepreneurship. Karmann was very interested in the welfare of his workforce. In times of social distress, he all too often helped the families very specifically with material resources and also with money; True to the motto that quick help is double help.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Knust, Dieter: From coach builder to car bodybuilder . 1st edition. Meinders & Elstermann GmbH & Co.KG, Belm, ISBN 3-88926-896-X .
- ^ Carl H. Hahn, Peter Kirchberg (ed.): DKW-Hahn: A manager and entrepreneur of the German motor vehicle industry . 1st edition. Heimatland Saxony, 2016, ISBN 978-3-910186-93-4 .
- ^ Wilhelm Karmann GmbH (Ed.): Karmann-Post (employee newspaper) . No. 158 . Meinders & Elstermann GmbH & Co.KG, Belm / Osnabrück December 1999.
- ↑ Der Spiegel: "Wilhelm II" . No. 18 . Spiegel-Verlag Rudolf Augstein GmbH & Co. KG, Hamburg 1963.
- ↑ DIE WELT: Tradition: 60 years of Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia . Axel Springer SE, Berlin, September 4, 2013.
- ^ Wilhelm Karmann GmbH (Ed.): The symbol . Meinders & Elstermann GmbH & Co.KG, Belm 2005, ISBN 3-88926-893-5 .
- ^ Knust, Dieter: Karmann vehicle collection . Ed .: Wilhelm Karmann GmbH. 1st edition. Meinders & Elstermann GmbH & Co. KG, Osnabrück 1995.
- ^ Knust, Dieter: Press release "Wilhelm Karmann is 80" . Ed .: Wilhelm Karmann KG. December 1, 1994.
- ↑ Werner F. Ebke, Jan Dirk Elstermann (ed.): Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung: "The automobile shaped his life" . Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung GmbH & Co. KG, October 27, 1998.
- ↑ Brochure: "The History of the Karmann Family" . 1951.
- ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Obituary notice Wilhelm Karmann" . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH, Frankfurt / Main October 27, 1998.
- ↑ https://sundoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/diss-online/02/02H210/t4.pdf
- ^ Wilhelm Karmann GmbH (Ed.): Karmann Post (employee newspaper): Obituary Wilhelm Karmann . No. 156 , December 1998.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Karmann, Wilhelm jun. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Karmann, Wilhelm junior; Karmann, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th December 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Krefeld |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 25, 1998 |
| Place of death | Osnabrück |