125 Years of Schenck Darmstadt
Carl Schenck founded his “Eisengießerei und Waagenfabrik”, the modern Carl Schenck AG, on 1st October 1881 in Darmstadt . The Schenck company and its company culture developed against the background of major historical-political and economic processes, whose ongoing change affects all areas of the company.
As early as 1863, the eminent businessman Carl Heinrich Johann Schenck had already co-founded the Mannheim company of “Schenck, Mohr & Elsässer”, where the automotive pioneer Carl Benz was employed as a technical specialist. In 1881, Schenck left the Mannheim company in order to establish his own motor works in Darmstadt . The perspicacity and early international orientation of the company founder, together with the presence at world exhibitions, ensured early success and a healthy order book for the young Darmstadt company. Thanks to dynamic development, the product range was extended in 1902 to include conveyor technology, followed in 1907 by the start of development and production of balancing machines. At the end of the 1920’s, the product range was again expanded to dynamometers and brake testing stands, although the iron foundry was closed.
While the company in its early beginnings lay still under the aegis of patriarchal leadership characteristic of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic saw the dawn of internal company democratisation, which following the interregnum of National Socialist tyranny again returned under the new Federal Republic.
After the Second World War, the meteoric upwards career of the Darmstadt company began in earnest, with the company expanding enormously and creating for itself an international reputation. Schenck products were now delivered to every part of the world, coming into use in many sectors of industry. Sales and production locations were also established in many countries. On the basis of this success, investment at the Darmstadt location was concentrated above all on technical development, enabling the company to further consolidate its pioneering role in the field of measurement technology, automotive engineering, testing, conveying and balancing technology.
The importance of the company for the city of Darmstadt and the region is also demonstrated in the many and varied activities in the cultural field, in co-operations with local institutions and in the loyalty of its many employees.
New economic developments face Carl Schenck AG with major challenges. This results in restructuring and reorganisation. Since 2000, Carl Schenck AG has been a subsidiary of the globally-active Dürr Group. The successive separation of traditional areas of business from the company demands entrepreneurial flexibility and expertise. The operational business is today managed by the Balancing and Diagnosis Technology Division. Extending over an area of 100,000 m², the Schenck Technology and Industrial Park provides valuable capacities offering a wide range of service facilities.
