Willi Schmalbach

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Willi Andreas Schmalbach , born Willi Andreas Schmalbauch , (born February 17, 1876 in Braunschweig ; † June 22, 1929 there ) was a German entrepreneur. From 1904 heand his brother Gustav continued the JA Schmalbach company foundedby their father Andreas Schmalbauch in Braunschweig in 1898.

Life

Willi was the oldest of the three children of the married couple Andreas and Johanne Schmalbauch, nee. Best († 1923). He was followed in 1877 by his sister Emma and in 1880 by his brother Gustav. Willi completed his apprenticeship at the Braunschweig fashion house E. F. Witting . He then worked in Dresden and Berlin . In 1899 his father called him back to Braunschweig to work in the growing family business.

After Andreas Schmalbauch died after a short illness at the beginning of 1904 at the age of only 53, the two sons took over the management of the company at the age of 28 (Willi) and 24 (Gustav). Willi took over the commercial management, Gustav the technical production management. Around the time of the First World War , the company produced large-scale food cans itself , which in turn were sold to other companies. In order not to be solely dependent on seasonal produce from agriculture, new buyers were sought for the cans, which were ultimately found in the meat and fish industries . As a result, the company continued to grow considerably across the region.

Together with his brother, Willi was head of the OHG until 1927 , then sole shareholder and managing director of the GmbH . At the same time he was chairman of the supervisory board of Union Blechwarenwerke , a holding company founded by him and other entrepreneurs from Braunschweig and the surrounding area, as well as a member of numerous boards and supervisory boards such as the Braunschweiger Schuberth-Werke and the Braunschweig branch of Deutsche Bank .

On September 15, 1904, Willi Schmalbauch married Margarete Bösche, with whom he had four children.

Factory building on Hamburger Strasse with the lettering "JA Schmalbach".

Name change

Company founder Andreas Schmalbauch was of the opinion early on that his family name was not conducive to the success of a company in the food industry and requested the change. However, this did not take place until May 9, 1913, nine years after his death, so that only his descendants were allowed to use the name "Schmalbach". The company was also renamed as a result.

The following incident is anecdotal and is said to have had a decisive influence on the name change. Willy (sic!) Schmalbauch stayed in Egypt, where he cured his kidney disease. Ms. Oberamtmann Nehrkorn from Riddagshausen , who was also present in the same hotel and also had kidney disease , addressed the corpulent businessman Schmalbauch one day with the words: Mr. Schmalbauch, whenever I see you come into the dining room, I think: “What a handsome, handsome gentleman. Only the name really doesn't suit him. "

Willi Schmalbach died on June 22, 1929, like his father at the age of 53, of a kidney disease from which he had already suffered in his youth. The company was then continued by his brother Gustav, who also died almost two years later at the age of 51.

Honors

  • The Technical University of Braunschweig gave Willi Schmalbach on 24 October 1928, the honorary doctorate "for outstanding contributions to the promotion of Brunswick economy."
  • In honor of the Schmalba (u) ch family, "Schmalbach-Strasse" in the north of Braunschweig was named after her.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Geßner: Johann Andreas Schmalbauch 1851–1904, Willi Schmalbach 1875–1929, Gustav Schmalbach 1880–1931, Herbert Munte 1899–1961. P. 250.
  2. ^ A b Gudrun Fiedler: Willi Andreas Schmalbach. In: Jarck, Scheel (Hrsg.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon. 19th and 20th centuries. P. 527.
  3. ^ Wilhelm Geßner: Johann Andreas Schmalbauch 1851–1904, Willi Schmalbach 1875–1929, Gustav Schmalbach 1880–1931, Herbert Munte 1899–1961. P. 252.
  4. ^ Wilhelm Geßner: Johann Andreas Schmalbauch 1851–1904, Willi Schmalbach 1875–1929, Gustav Schmalbach 1880–1931, Herbert Munte 1899–1961. P. 255.
  5. ^ Wilhelm Geßner: Johann Andreas Schmalbauch 1851–1904, Willi Schmalbach 1875–1929, Gustav Schmalbach 1880–1931, Herbert Munte 1899–1961. P. 252f.
  6. ↑ Eckhard Schimpf : Klinterklater II , Braunschweig 1995, p. 36.
  7. ^ Wilhelm Geßner: Johann Andreas Schmalbauch 1851–1904, Willi Schmalbach 1875–1929, Gustav Schmalbach 1880–1931, Herbert Munte 1899–1961. P. 257.
  8. ↑ Archive of the Technical University of Braunschweig: files of honorary doctors ( memento from June 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 214 kB) on biblio.tu-bs.de
  9. ^ Reimar Fürst: Packaging. Praised, rebuked - indispensable! A century of packaging industry. P. 135.
personal data
SURNAME Schmalbach, Willi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmalbauch, Willi Andreas (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 1929
Place of death Braunschweig