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Henschel & Son

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"Henschel" redirects here. For other uses, see Henschel (disambiguation).

Henschel & Son (German: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons.

Henschel & Son; Henschel Works
(Henschel & Sohn, Henschel-Werke)
Company typeLimited company
(Aktiengesellschaft)
IndustryMechanical engineering, automotive engineering
Founded1810 as Henschel & Son
FounderGeorg Henschel
FateMerged, later dissolved
Headquarters
Kassel, Germany
Steam locomotive built by Henschel & Son in 1936, at the São Paulo Technology Museum, in Brazil
Bond of Henschel & Sohn, issued February 1920

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, using Doble steam designs, for Deutsche Reichsbahn railways as delivery trucks. Several cars were built as well, one of which became Hermann Göring's staff car. In 1935 Henschel was able to upgrade its various steam locomotives to a high-speed Streamliner 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.

World War II

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Henschel built (1941) 4-6-4 VR Class Pr2 steam locomotive (no. 1800) at Haapamäki Steam Locomotive Museum in Keuruu, Finland
 
A Tiger I is loaded onto a special rail car at the Henschel plant.
 
The Henschel Hs 129B ground attack aircraft
 
Locomotive nameplate (1883)

Early in 1935, Henschel began manufacturing Panzer I tanks. During World War II, the firm was responsible for license production of the Dornier Do 17Z medium bomber, and in 1939–1940 it began large-scale production of the Panzer III. Henschel was the sole manufacturer of the Tiger I,[2] and alongside Porsche the Tiger II. In 1945, the company had 8,000 workers working in two shifts each of 12 hours, and forced labour was used extensively. The company's factories, which also manufactured narrow-gauge locomotives, were among the most important Allied bomber targets and were nearly completely destroyed.

Aviation

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Henschel Flugzeugwerke aircraft and missiles included:

Trolleybuses

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A preserved Henschel trolleybus in Solingen (with Henschel nameplate and logo on front)

Manufacturing of trolleybuses began in 1941 and continued until 1962, ultimately totalling at least 680 vehicles,[3] while Henschel also constructed the chassis for more than 240 others that used bodies by Waggonfabrik Uerdingen [de] (which changed its name to Duewag many years later), of type ÜHIIIs and ÜHIIs. Almost all were purchased by transport companies in Germany or Austria, but Henschel's single largest order for trolleybuses was from Buenos Aires, Argentina, for 175 vehicles built in 1952–1953, and the São Paulo trolleybus system purchased 50 Henschel–Uerdingen trolleybuses in 1954.[3][4]: 107–108  All but 50 of the 175 Buenos Aires vehicles were fitted with bodies made by Nordwestdeutscher Fahrzeugbau.[5]: 150 

Post-war business

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1951 restored pony engine

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 1976 Thyssen-Henschel, and 1990 ABB Henschel AG. In 1996, the company became ABB Daimler Benz Transportation Adtranz. The company was subsequently acquired by Bombardier (Canada) around 2002. The Kassel facility still exists and is one of the world's largest manufacturers of locomotives (Henschel Antriebstechnik).[citation needed]

Locomotives

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Henschel locomotive on Egyptian National Railways

Private, mining and industry railways

Generation 1
Generation 2
Generation 3
 
Henschel nameplate on Sri Lanka Railways Class M6 locomotive
Generation 4
Generation 5
Generation 6
Esslinger
Bundesbahn
Export

Notable employees

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Locomotive with Streamline Shell is Designed for Speed" Popular Mechanics October 1935 bottom of page 541
  2. ^ "The Henschel Tiger Factory". alanbamby.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Murray, Alan (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. pp. 103–104. ISBN 0-904235-18-1.
  4. ^ Moraes, Jorge; Howes, Robert (2022). Brazil's Trolleybuses. Bildeston, Suffolk, UK: Trolleybooks. ISBN 978-0-904235-33-3.
  5. ^ Morrison, Allen (November–December 1994). "The City of Trolleybuses [Buenos Aires]". Trolleybus Magazine. No. 198. UK: National Trolleybus Association. pp. 147–154. ISSN 0266-7452.
  6. ^ "Diesel Locomotive Roster – the WDM (ALCO) Series | 24 Coaches". 30 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
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