Knorr-Bremse
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| Founded | 1905 in Berlin |
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| Headquarters | Munich, Germany |
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Key people
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Klaus Deller, chairman of the executive board Dr. Bernd Bohr, chairman of the supervisory board |
| Products | braking systems (rail and road) |
| Revenue | €5.8 billion (2015) |
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Number of employees
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24,275 (as of Dec 31, 2015) |
| Website | www |
Klaus Deller, chairman of the executive board
Knorr-Bremse ("Bremse" meaning brake) is a manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles that has operated in the field for over 110 years. Other products in Group's portfolio include intelligent door systems, control components, air conditioning systems for rail vehicles, and torsional vibration dampers, transmission control systems for commercial vehicles. In 2015, the Group's workforce of over 24,000 achieved worldwide sales of EUR 5.8billion.
The Group has over 100 locations in 30 countries.
Engineer Georg Knorr established Knorr-Bremse GmbH in 1905 in Boxhagen-Rummelsburg, Neue Bahnhofstraße, near Berlin (since 1920 part of Berlin-Friedrichshain). Its production of railway braking systems derived from a company ("Carpenter & Schulze") founded in 1883. In 1911 the company merged with "Continentale Bremsen-GmbH" to found Knorr-Bremse Aktiengesellschaft (AG). From 1913 onwards a second manufactoring plant, new headquarters, a heating plant and other annex buildings were erected.
The initial basis for Knorr's commercial success was provided by an agreement with the Prussian State Railways, which at that time had formed the Prussian-Hessian Railway Company, to supply single-chamber express braking systems, first for passenger and later on for freight trains. The "Knorr Druckluft-Einkammerschnellbremse" (K1) - a compressed-air brake - and its derivatives offered considerably enhanced safety performance compared with traditional systems.
In the early twentieth century, train guards still had to operate brakes by hand, from so-called "brake vans". The first pneumatic brakes were of a basic design, but before long, indirect automatic systems using control valves were developed. See History of rail transport in Germany for an overview.
In 1920 the manufacturing plant of the first Bayerische Motoren-Werke AG (BMW, established in 1917/1918) located in Munich, Moosacher Straße, became a subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse, delivering brake systems as Süddeutsche Bremsen-AG for the Bavarian Group Administration, the former "Royal Bavarian State Railways".
There was no further interest in motor engines for aircraft and automobiles. The engine construction and the company name "BMW" were sold in 1922 to financier Camillo Castiglioni to be combined with the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG (BFW, located not far away), establishing the company a second time. For details see History of BMW and BFW/Messerschmitt.
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Wikipedia