Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Mercedes-Benz Plant in Mannheim: A Chronology

1866
Carl Benz becomes draftsman and designer at a scales factory in Mannheim
1871
Benz and August Ritter set up a mechanical workshop on the plot known as T 6, 11 in Mannheim
1879
Benz two-stroke engine
1882
Gasmotoren-Fabrik Mannheim founded with financial backing from Emil Bühler
1883
Benz, Rose and Eßlinger found Benz & Cie., Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik
1886
New factory building goes up in Waldhofstraße
1886
German Patent No. 37435 awarded for the Benz patent motor car
1887
Move to new plant premises, Waldhofstraße 24
1888
Bertha Benz’s long-distance journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back
1893
Technical laboratory for developing and testing cars
1895
Benz builds the world’s first motorized bus for regular service
1899
Benz & Cie., Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik in Mannheim converts to a joint stock company
1900
Benz & Cie. becomes the world’s leading car manufacturer
 
1903
Carl Benz steps down from company management, returning in 1904 to take a seat on the supervisory board
1905
Benz & Cie. returns to profitability after economic crisis
1906
Benz & Cie. purchases plot measuring 311,180 square meters on the Luzenberg in Mannheim-Waldhof for a new plant destined for car production
1907
Construction work begins based on plans by the architect Albert Speer
1907
Fritz Erle wins the Herkomer Trial in a 50 hp car
1908
Official opening of new plant on October 12
1909
Move to new premises completed successfully
1911
Following three-year development work, Mannheim plant begins production of aircraft engines
1911
Company name changed to Benz & Cie., Rheinische Automobil- und Motorenfabrik AG
1912
New repair workshop built using reinforced concrete
1914
Benz shares launched on Mannheim stock market
1915
15 women employed at the Mannheim plant for first time
1916
Training department established
1921
Department for stationary engines sold off as Motoren-Werke Mannheim
1923
Series production of a four-cylinder diesel engine for tractors and commercial vehicles
1924
Joint venture between Benz & Cie. and DMG
1925
City of Mannheim renames two streets bordering former plant Carl-Benz-Straße
1926
TH Hanover pays tribute to Carl Benz by driving to Ladenburg via Mannheim in a Benz Comfortable of 1895
1926
Merger of DMG and Benz & Cie.
1929
Rumors about possible plant closure in Mannheim
1930
Wave of redundancies begins; by 1932 the global economic crisis accounts for the loss of almost 90 percent of all jobs at the plant
1933
Reopening of the foundry, closed since 1930, and full employment returns for production of the Mercedes-Benz Mannheim and Nürburg models
1937
Mannheim plant launches truck production
1939
During the Second World War, the plant employs 448 prisoners-of-war and forced laborers from concentration camps, as well as 1,249 civilian foreign workers
1945
US army occupies plant on March 23
1945
In spite of 20 percent of all facilities being destroyed, production of the three-ton L 701 truck starts up again in June 1945
1949
Introduction of new Mercedes L 3250 truck from Mannheim
1949
Production start-up for new 300 engine series
1949
The O 3500 is the first bus to come out of post-war Mannheim production
1949
Remanufacturing of engines for commercial vehicles begins
1951
All Mercedes-Benz bus production concentrated at Mannheim
1953
Plant introduces vocational school education
1953
L 4500 truck presented at the IAA
1954
The O 321 H is the first bus to feature the semi-integral design approach of a highly rigid frame floor assembly welded to the body
1954
Mannheim plant introduces plant suggestions scheme
1955
Mannheim is Europe’s largest bus plant
 
1957
Premiere of the first modern large-capacity bus by Mercedes-Benz, the O 317
1960
Largest commercial vehicle plant on the continent
1965
Truck production moved from Mannheim to Wörth
1965
Opening of new foundry
1968
Differentiation of bus series into coaches and urban buses
1970
Construction of new production halls for engine assembly
1972
Production start-up for new generation of commercial vehicle diesel engines, the OM 400 series
1974
Enlargement of vocational college by the addition of seven new teaching rooms in lightweight construction
1977
Acquisition of flywheel and gear rim production from Untertürkheim and part of textile production from Sindelfingen
1978
Introduction of paint robots in engine assembly
1978
Series production of crankcase core in “cold box” process at the new core shop
1979
The public road Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Straße becomes part of the plant premises; number of western plant gates cut from six to one
1981
Construction of a new administration building
1983
Production of the two-millionth commercial vehicle engine since 1949
1983
Conversion to district heating supply
1984
Modernization of the bus plant and foundry
1984
O 405 – second generation of standard bus
1985
O 407 – new standardized inter-urban bus
1988
Large-scale production starts of the 600 engine series
1989
O 405 N – almost ground-level entry in an urban bus
1990
Cataphoretic dip priming used in bus production
1991
O 404 – a pooling of top technology
1995
Foundation of EvoBus GmbH with Mercedes-Benz and Setra
1995
100th anniversary of the bus
1996
Presentation of the Innovisia research vehicle, a bus featuring technology of the future
1996
Production launch of the Integro interurban bus
1996
Introduction of the first fuel cell powered bus NEBUS based on the O 405
1996
Presentation of the Cito urban midibus
1996
Large-scale production of the OM 904 LA engine series and engines from the 500 series
1997
Premiere of the innovative Citaro regular service bus
1999
New Mercedes-Benz Travego touring coach
1999
Expansion of the cataphoretic dip priming facility
1999
50th anniversary of remanufactured engines from Mannheim and 300 engine series
2001
New delivery hall
2001
Official opening of the design studio for Mercedes-Benz Buses
2001
Premiere of the new interurban Conecto H bus
2004
Opening of used bus center
2005
Introduction of Citaro low-entry vehicle
2007
Investment in the “synchronous factory” with a view to modernizing production
2007
Renamed “Mercedes-Benz Mannheim – a plant of Daimler AG”

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