Whether truck, agricultural machine or car - the name Hanomag has long stood for quality in vehicle construction. But entrepreneurial mistakes and a criminal business model led the company from Hanover to ruin.
The long-established company Hanomag from Hanover has put many technical masterpieces on wheels. Hanomag products were indispensable for the reconstruction in the post-war period. The company has long since ceased to exist, but the Hanomag legend is still alive. Many of the old tractors, automobiles and trucks are coveted collector's items.
With steam locomotives from Linden into the world
More than 10,000 locomotives were built in Linden. This model was restored at the end of the 1990s at the Deutsche Bahn plant in Meiningen.The history of Hanomag begins in the middle of the 19th century in Linden, at that time still a village on the outskirts of Hanover, today a district. In 1835 Georg Egestorf founded an iron and machine factory there, initially producing steam engines. However, with the advent of the railway age, he soon switched to the manufacture of locomotives. More than 10,000 locomotives are delivered from Linden all over the world. After Egestorf's death in 1868, the company had different owners. In 1871 it was given the name Hannoversche Maschinenbau Actien-Gesellschaft, which later became the abbreviation Hanomag.
Hanomag's "commission bread":The first car off the assembly line
The Hanomag "Kommissbrot" is the first car to be mass-produced in Germany.The product range also changes:After the turn of the century automobiles come into fashion, from 1925 Hanomag builds a small car, the so-called commission bread. The ten horsepower car, which owes its affectionate nickname to its boxy shape of a loaf, becomes a bestseller. When the small Hanomag comes onto the market, it is the first German small car to be manufactured on an assembly line - and thus writes a piece of automotive history. Of the 16,000 vehicles produced, almost 400 are said to still exist today. Collectors pay high prices for it.
Trucks and tractors:Hanomag manufactures from A to Z
Agricultural machines such as this Hanomag WD 35 motorized plow from 1922 are among the highlights at enthusiasts' meetings such as the Historical Field Days in Nordhorn.In addition to locomotives and automobiles, Hanomag also manufactured trucks, agricultural machinery and tractors from the 1920s. There are almost no suppliers, most of the parts are self-manufactured. Karl Wesche begins his apprenticeship in 1940 with an hourly wage of twelve pfennigs. He has worked at Hanomag for almost his entire professional life. Looking back, he remembers the noise in the factory buildings:"We basically only understood each other through mouth movements, so I could understand everyone from 20 meters." At least the workers in the sheet metal works get a noise allowance.
Production for the War Machine
By the end of the war, 25 type K 5 railway guns had been produced in cooperation between Krupp in Essen and Hanomag in Hanover.The rise of the National Socialists also has dramatic consequences for Hanomag. The production of armaments becomes the core business. In addition to the core workforce, thousands of forced laborers have to produce anti-aircraft guns, tracked vehicles and grenades in the factory. Air bombs repeatedly hit the halls. The workers are usually warned in good time, but there are also fatalities. After the end of the war, English soldiers occupy part of the factory. Production starts up again as early as June 1945 - despite considerable damage and under the most difficult conditions.
Golden years after World War II
Hanomag's boom years after the Second World War began with tractor production. In 1950 almost every fourth German still works in agriculture. The demand for the new four-stroke tractors, but also for trucks and construction machinery from Hanomag, is correspondingly high. At the company's peak, more than 13,000 people work there. "You felt like kings, that's the right expression, we were respected", Karl Wesche looks back.
Sale of Hanomag in installments
The Hanomag-Henschel vans later bore the Mercedes logo.After numerous changes of ownership, the plant became part of the Rheinstahl Group in 1952. But the group shows little interest in the vehicle manufacturer. At the end of the 1960s, Hanomag suffered more and more from this corporate policy. Urgently needed investments are not made. In 1969 the truck division was merged with Henschel and finally sold to Mercedes. In 1970, Rheinstahl decides to stop tractor production - Hanomag loses its core business.
A climber steps in as a rescuer
The anger of the Hanomag employees is repeatedly expressed in labor disputes. In 1980 Horst Dieter Esch took over the company. The son of a locksmith from Hanover had worked his way up from ticket ripper to head of a drive-in cinema chain in America. With his Internationale Baumaschinen Holding (IBH) he now wants to stir up the world market - with Hanomag as the core area.
Esch is building an empire - on credit
The recipe for success is simple:Esch buys up ailing companies cheaply with almost no equity. This creates an empire on credit, financed with bank loans and state guarantees. In return, the smart entrepreneur promises to keep jobs. But Esch's big plans quickly falter. The economy is faltering and more and more construction machines cannot find a buyer.
The world of illusion collapses
In November 1983, Esch's illusory world collapsed. Around 2,700 employees will lose their jobs. With the bankruptcy, Esch's business practices came to light. For years he had obtained bank loans by using forged order papers. In March 1984, Esch was arrested for fraud and delaying bankruptcy and later convicted. After four years he is released from prison and takes over what was then the second largest model agency in the world in New York.
Hanomag is still building construction machines
In the early 1960s, Hanomag built the K10 caterpillar track.From now on, three Hanoverian medium-sized companies try to continue Hanomag with a smaller workforce, but things don't go well for long. In 1989, the Japanese construction machinery group Komatsu took over the majority of the shares. Today, Hanomag is wholly owned by him. Around 750 employees still assemble excavators and wheel loaders in Hanover. Right next to the remaining old factory buildings from the 1920s, a technology center has also been in operation since 2020, which focuses on digital product development.
But most of the Hanomag site, which once spanned 44 hectares, is used differently today. Most of the old production halls have long since been demolished or converted into commercial and residential space. Only a few are reminiscent of the famous company Hanomag, which has decisively shaped the history of mobility with its products.