Koenig & Bauer AG - Innovation and Expansion after 1860
Innovation and Expansion after 1860
After Andreas Bauer's death, Friedrich Koenig's two sons, Wilhelm and Friedrich, Jr., took over the management of the company. Friedrich, Jr., was a great organizer while Wilhelm took care of the technical side of the enterprise. They were greatly supported by their young mother Fanny Koenig, who did the business correspondence and helped with calculations and negotiations. Fanny Koenig was the driving force behind a number of social benefit programs for Koenig & Bauer workers—such as a sickness benefit fund, a company savings bank, an employee training center, and housing for workers—which were introduced in the 1860s. In 1873, a factory ordinance was introduced that defined workers' and managers' rights and obligations and a democratically elected factory council consisting of managers as well as workers was established that defined the rules of conduct and discussed and solved important work-related issues.
In 1886, the older son of Friedrich Koenig, Jr., Edgar Koenig, joined the company. However, he died at the age of 38. Albrecht Bolza, the son of Friedrich Koenig's daughter Luise, entered the family business in 1896, followed by the younger son of Friedrich Koenig Jr., Constantin Koenig. After Wilhelm Koenig's death in 1894, Bolza stepped in to help Friedrich Koenig, Jr., manage the company. With domestic and export business thriving again, demand outgrew the capacity of the factory in Oberzell by the late 1860s. A brand-new production hall was built nearby Würzburg in 1872. Another new factory, including Germany's largest manufacturing hall that stretched out over 740 feet was built in 1900. One year later, the monastery in Oberzell was sold. In 1905, the firm was transformed into a limited liability company with Alfred Bolza as managing director. In 1913, Koenig & Bauer acquired a 40 percent stake in Vienna-based Schnellpressenfabrik L. Kaiser's Söhne, the company which one of Friedrich Koenig's nephews had founded.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, Koenig & Bauer introduced a number of important innovations which formed the foundation of the company's success for decades to come. In 1875, the company started making so-called web-fed presses, or web presses. First introduced in the United States, the new presses printed on paper from rolls instead of paper sheets. In 1886, Wilhelm Koenig invented a web press that was able to cut the paper fed from a roll into sheets before they were printed. The machine also allowed for a variety of sheet sizes. Two years later, he constructed the first web press that was able to print in four colors. In 1890, Koenig & Bauer launched another novelty—a web press with two integrated printing units, a twin web press. In the early 1890s, Wilhelm Koenig laid the groundwork for two other of Koenig & Bauer's important product lines. He began to design presses for printing luxury color products and for printing securities and bank notes.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Koenig & Bauer focused on catering to the growing number of publishers that were putting out richly illustrated books and magazines. The company developed a variety of publication presses, including stitching or ribbon fold units. At the same time, Koenig & Bauer began to make flat-bed presses and took on the development of rotogravure machines. In 1910, the company introduced an innovative security press with very high accuracy, the "Iris" press, followed by the first matrix-molding press, "Gigant," and a new type of plate-casting machine three years later. The first Koenig & Bauer rotogravure press left the factory in 1912.
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
