Union Giesserei (German: Union Gießerei) was a German engineering company based in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

History

From a Königsberg merchant family, Maria Schnell married an English-born

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

Charles Hughes, and in 1826 bought a silver refining business. Her brother , together with his brothers-in-law Friedrich Laubmeyer and Carl August Dultz, established an iron foundry, run by Hughes, on 1 May 1828, which was named Union Giesserei in 1845. In 1846 Union Giesserei employed an engineer, Johann Gottfried Dietrich Wilhelm Ostendorff (5 April 1812 - 23 September 1876), who had gained experience of locomotive and marine steam engines and boilers in Britain, and broadened the business in those directions. Ostendorff also married a daughter of Gustav Schell, and became the sole managing partner in 1852. In 1855, Union Giesserei launched its first steamship ''Schnell'' on 5 June, and on 5 December delivered its first steam locomotive, built for the

Prussian Eastern Railway The Prussian Eastern Railway () was a railway in the Kingdom of Prussia and later Germany until 1918. Its main route, approximately long, connected the capital, Berlin, with the cities of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and Königsberg (now Kalini ...

. On Ostendorff's death in 1876, (16 November 1840 - 30 March 1910), who had previously worked for

August Borsig Johann Karl Friedrich August Borsig (; 23 June 1804 – 6 July 1854) was a German businessman who founded the ''Borsig-Werke'' factory. Borsig was born in Breslau (Wrocław), the son of cuirassier and carpenter foreman Johann George Borsig. Aft ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, took over the firm. It was changed from a public trading company to an

Aktiengesellschaft (; abbreviated AG ) is a German language, German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria ...

(A.G.), or

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...

, on 2 June 1881. The board was now run by Radok and Ostendorff's son, Arthur (18 May 1850 - 24 July 1891). When Elias Radok died, the factory was taken over by senior engineers, Georg Panck and Paul Fischer, together with the master builder, Max Hartung. Paul Fischer left in 1920 due to illness, Georg Panck died in 1923 and Max Hartung took over the helm until the arrival of Dr. Paul Brehm in November 1925. Union Giesserei did not get any contracts from the newly formed

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

and negotiations with the Reichsbahn proved largely fruitless. This led to severe economic problems in the company during the mid-1920s. In 1927, however, Union Giesserei was finally given orders for the construction of the DRG Class 64 and 80 steam locomotives as part of the 'eastern regions aid' (''Ostlandhilfe'') scheme. The shipyard fared better as the German authorities had a strategic interest in maintaining shiprepairing capability in the East. However in 1930 Union Giesserei was declared bankrupt, and from 17 March it became a subsidiary of the F. Schichau GmbH. The shipyard was fully integrated in the Schichau group in 1931, came under Soviet control in 1945 and later became the Russian-owned

Yantar Shipyard Yantar Shipyard () is a Russian shipbuilding company based in Kaliningrad, Russia. Yantar Shipyard builds military ships, including antisubmarine and patrol craft, as well as civil vessels such as fishing trawlers and seiners. It is a part of th ...

History

References

Further reading