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| Company type | Limited company (Aktiengesellschaft) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mechanical engineering,automotive engineering |
| Founded | 1810 asHenschel & Son |
| Founder | Georg Henschel |
| Fate | Merged, later dissolved |
| Headquarters | |
Henschel & Son (German:Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located inKassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, includinglocomotives,trucks,buses andtrolleybuses, andarmoured fighting vehicles andweapons.
Georg Christian Carl Henschel founded the factory in 1810 at Kassel. His son Carl Anton Henschel founded another factory in 1837. In 1848, the company began manufacturing locomotives. The factory became the largest locomotive manufacturer in Germany by the 20th century. Henschel built 10 articulated steam trucks, usingDoble steam designs, forDeutsche Reichsbahn railways as delivery trucks. Several cars were built as well, one of which becameHermann Göring's staff car. In 1935 Henschel was able to upgrade its various steam locomotives to a high-speedStreamliner type with a maximum speeds of up to 140 km/h (87 mph) by the addition of a removable shell over the old steam locomotive.[1] In 1918, Henschel began the production of gearboxes at the Kassel plant. In January 1925, Henschel & Son began building trucks and buses.
| Year | Production | Remark | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1848 | Number 1 | Dragon = Drache (german) | .jpg) |
| 1849 | Number 4 | 3 locomotives per year | |
| 1850 | Number 8 | 4 locomotives per year | |
| 1860 | Number 45 | Until March 1860 | |
| 1860 | Number 50 | 4 October 1860 | |
| 1865 | Number 100 | 19 August 1865 | |
| 1868 | 50 locomotives per year | ||
| 1873 | Number 500 | 21 May 1873; 125 locomotives per year | |
| 1883 | Number 1000 | 12 April 1883; 226 locomotives per year | |
| 1886 | Number 2000 | 25 July 1886 | .jpg) |
| 1890 | Number 3000 | 1 February 1890 | |
| 1894 | Number 4000 | 18 January 1894 | |
| 1899 | Number 5000[2] | .jpg) | |
| 1910 | Number 10000[3] | 15 August 1910 |  |
.jpg)
Early in 1935, Henschel began manufacturingPanzer Itanks. DuringWorld War II, the firm was responsible for license production of theDornier Do 17Z medium bomber, and in 1939–1940 it began large-scale production of thePanzer III. Henschel was the sole manufacturer of theTiger I,[4] and alongsidePorsche theTiger II. In 1945, the company had 8,000 workers working in two shifts each of 12 hours, andforced labour was used extensively. The company's factories, which also manufacturednarrow-gauge locomotives, were among the most important Allied bomber targets and were nearly completely destroyed.
Henschel Flugzeugwerke aircraft and missiles included:
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Manufacturing of trolleybuses began in 1941 and continued until 1962, ultimately totalling at least 680 vehicles,[5] while Henschel also constructed the chassis for more than 240 others that used bodies byWaggonfabrik Uerdingen [de] (which changed its name toDuewag many years later), oftype ÜHIIIs andÜHIIs. Almost all were purchased by transport companies in Germany or Austria, but Henschel's single largest order for trolleybuses was fromBuenos Aires, Argentina, for 175 vehicles built in 1952–1953, and theSão Paulo trolleybus system purchased 50 Henschel–Uerdingen trolleybuses in 1954.[5][6]: 107–108 All but 50 of the 175 Buenos Aires vehicles were fitted with bodies made by Nordwestdeutscher Fahrzeugbau.[7]: 150
Manufacturing began again in 1948. In 1964, the company took over Rheinische Stahlwerke and became Rheinstahl Henschel AG (Hanomag). The truck production of Henschel was merged with that of Hanomag that spun off to form Hanomag-Henschel in 1969, this later went to Daimler-Benz, which discontinued the brand name Hanomag-Henschel in 1974. The production was switched to commercial vehicle axles, in this area it is the largest factory in Europe. In 1976Thyssen-Henschel, and 1990 ABB Henschel AG. In 1996, the company becameABB Daimler Benz Transportation Adtranz. The company was subsequently acquired byBombardier (Canada) around 2002. In 2021Alstom acquiredBombardier Transportation. The Kassel facility still exists and is one of the world's largest manufacturers of locomotives.[8] Main product built and serviced today in Kassel is theAlstom Traxx.
_Henschel.jpg)
Private, mining and industry railways
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