Windhoff railway and system technology

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Windhoff Bahn- und Anlagentechnik GmbH

logo
legal form Company with limited liability
founding 1889
Seat Rheine , Germany
management
  • Uwe Dolkemeyer
  • Markus Massing
Number of employees 240
Branch Railway and system technology
Website Windhoff GmbH

Windhoff Bahn- und Anlagentechnik GmbH is a German mechanical engineering company based in Rheine in Westphalia. It goes back to the Rheiner Maschinenfabrik founded in 1889 and the Gebrüder Windhoff GmbH - engine, vehicle and machine factory from 1902. At the beginning of the 20th century, automobiles were also produced under the Windhoff brand . Today the company operates in the fields of rail vehicles , rail technology and attachments.

Company history

historical company sign

Windhoff Bahn- und Anlagentechnik goes back to the engineer Rudolf Windhoff. He first gained technical experience in Berlin and then founded a factory for railway accessories and bridge construction in Lingen . The then largest factory in the Emsland went spectacularly bankrupt in the course of the “Gründerkrachs” in 1878. After a few stops, Windhoff founded the Rheiner Maschinenfabrik in his home town of Rheine in 1889 . The surrounding textile factories were initially supplied with transmission systems . In addition, the need for stationary railway material was met.

In 1902 the three brothers Ernst, Fritz and Hans Windhoff founded the Gebrüder Windhoff GmbH - engine, vehicle and machine factory . The aim of the company was to supply equipment parts for motor vehicles. At first only engines , gears and coolers were manufactured and u. a. presented in March 1903 at the International German Motor Show in Berlin . In 1908 the company started its own car production under the brand name Windhoff , which, depending on the source, was maintained until 1914 or 1918. In 1913, the Rheiner Maschinenfabrik and the engine and vehicle factory Gebr. Windhoff merged to form Rheiner Maschinenfabrik Windhoff AG . In the Great Depression of 1929, this company suffered heavy economic losses, but they were overcome. The factory facilities in Rheine were completely destroyed by a bomb attack on October 5, 1944. After the Second World War, Windhoff received major orders from the Deutsche Bundesbahn for superstructure processing machines.

Windhoff administration building

In the 1980s, the sewage treatment equipment division was added. In 1993 the company went public . In 1997, Windhoff AG founded Windhoff Software Services GmbH together with technipower. In December 2001, Windhoff AG filed for bankruptcy. In March 2002, Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH , Hamburg, took over the rail vehicles, rail and systems engineering divisions. These areas were merged in the new Windhoff Bahn- und Anlagentechnik GmbH and integrated into the plant construction area of GMH Holding. Windhoff has been part of Stego Vermögensverwaltungs GmbH since 2014, whose sole partner is Jürgen Großmann . In May 2015, Windhoff Gleisbautechnik GmbH was founded for the worldwide distribution of hydraulic attachments.

production

Today's company produces (selection) elevated track systems , underfloor lifting systems , lifting jack systems , transfer platforms , turntables , bogie measuring stands and devices for bogie transport and storage, for steel and smelting works ladle cars, tilting chairs, hooded cars, lance moving devices, coil transport and storage handling equipment and coke -Löschloks and fire trucks, for marshalling yards : shunting locomotives , two-way vehicles and cable systems, further car loading stations, fire-fighting and rescue trains and Schienenschleif- and maintenance vehicles.

Windhoff automobile brand (1908 - approx. 1914/18)

When it was first introduced, the automobile range comprised four models, each powered by two four- cylinder and two six-cylinder engines. The smallest Windhoff had a displacement of 2012 cm³, the largest 6125 cm³. Engines with overhead intake valves appeared as early as 1911 . Various models were offered until 1914 or 1918 (depending on the source), including the four-cylinder models 6/18 hp 1.5 liters and 10/30 hp 2.6 liters. The six-cylinder 15/40 hp 3.9 liter in particular enjoyed an excellent reputation.

Windhoff automobiles were quality products and also took part in motorsport events such as the Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt .

See also

literature

  • Manfred Fickers: Windhoff, Rudolph Arnold. In: Study Society for Emsland Regional History (Ed.): Emsland History. Vol. 17, Haselünne 2010, ISBN 978-3-9808021-9-1 , pp. 413-424.
  • GN Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. Dutton Press, New York 1973, 2nd edition (hardcover), ISBN 0-525-08351-0 (English)
  • Bernd Windhoff: My almost completely happy life , ed. by Karl-Peter Ellerbrock with the collaboration of Burkhard Spinnen, Sabine Kittel and Harald Wixforth (= Society for Westphalian Economic History eV, Kleine Schriften Heft 36), Dortmund / Münster 2020, ISBN 978-3-87023-292-4 .

Web links

Commons : Windhoff  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Windhoff Automobile

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter Kirchberg: Automobile exhibitions and vehicle tests around the world. The best from “Der Motorwagen”, the magazine for the automotive industry and engine construction. Part 1: 1898-1914. Transpress, Berlin 1985, p. 99.
  2. https://windhoff-group.de/unternehmen/historie/

Coordinates: 52 ° 16 ′ 28.6 ″  N , 7 ° 26 ′ 18.3 ″  E