Rheinmetall

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Rheinmetall AG
Type Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as FWB: RHM
Industry Automotive, defense
Founded 13 April 1889
Founder(s) Heinrich Ehrhardt
Headquarters Düsseldorf, Germany
Key people Klaus Eberhardt (CEO and chairman of the executive board), Klaus Greinert (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Products Automotive parts, military vehicles and systems
Revenue €3.989 billion (2010)[1]
Operating income €297 million (2010)[1]
Profit €162 million (2010)[1]
Total assets €4.460 billion (end 2010)[1]
Total equity €1.355 billion (end 2010)[1]
Employees 19,980 (end 2010)[1]
Website www.rheinmetall.com

Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and defence company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß. The company has a long tradition of making guns and artillery pieces. The company is also involved in a variety of advanced metal-working and milling technologies, allowing it to provide special high-quality components for small arms in addition to heavy weapon production.

Contents

History [edit]

The steam locomotive parked in Trebnje, Sevnica
The builder's plate on the steam locomotive parked in Trebnje, Slovenia
The steam locomotive parked in Trebnje, Slovenia, was produced in 1922 by Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik from Düsseldorf.

With help from a consortium of banks, Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft was founded on 13 April 1889 by Heinrich Ehrhardt (born 1840 in Zella/Rhön – died in 1928 Zella-Mehlis).

During the Spanish Civil War, Rheinmetall-Borsig, in 1938 nationalized by Reichswerke Hermann Göring,was a major supplier of arms to the Spanish Republicans, even though German forces were fighting with the Spanish Nationalists. They were shipped via Pyrkal in Greece.

The company had a close relationship to the Nazi regime with Göring, purchasing a majority stake in June 1938.[2]

Rheinmetall built the MG 42, the Wehrmacht's main general-purpose medium machine gun. Its successor, the MG3, is still used by the Bundeswehr, as well as other armies.

Rheinmetall made bomb fuses during World War II. The most notable was a double-capacitor design, invented by Herbert Ruhlman and patented in the UK before the war, which was particularly dangerous to defuse should the bomb not explode on impact. Many bomb disposal personnel were killed.[citation needed] The patent for the fuse was filed in the UK two years before Hitler came to power in 1933. The UK Armed Forces spotted this and reference to the patent helped enormously with disarming these early bombs,[citation needed] although Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft and Ruhlman constantly innovated with many new electrical fuses being added to the Luftwaffe armoury throughout the war. The U.S. Patent Office put a 32-year secrecy order on a similar patent by the University of Illinois in 1948.

In 1990 the company acquired a majority stake in the military vehicle production facilities of Krupp's Kiel plant; MaK System GmbH.[3][4]

In 1993 Rheinmetall acquired Mauser AG and in 1996 and 1999 the majority share-holdings of STN Atlas and Oerlikon Contraves, all of which are major European defense companies. STN Atlas was later split into Atlas Elektronik and Rheinmetall Defence Electronics, the latter is now a full subsidiary of Rheinmetall.

In March 2008, Rheinmetall acquired Dutch defence company Stork PKV.

Military products [edit]

Examples include:

Modern [edit]

WWII and pre-WWII Products [edit]

In fiction [edit]

The Rheinmetall company name appears in video games spanning multiple genres, including the sci-fi title Cyberpunk 2020, historical grand strategy title Hearts of Iron 2 and the role-playing game Fallout.

Gallery [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Annual Report 2010". Rheinmetall. Retrieved 3 April 2011. 
  2. ^ "Rheinmetall Under the Nazis". Retrieved 4 August 2011. "The company's affiliation to Goering's complex was strengthened even further in June 1938, when Reichswerke Hermann Goering purchased the majority holding in Rheinmetall-Borsig from Vereinigte Industrieunternehmungen AG (VIAG)." 
  3. ^ Michael Brzoska; Peter Lock (1992). Restructuring of arms production in Western Europe. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute / Oxford University Press. pp. 137–138. 
  4. ^ "Rheinmetall AG – 1981–1992". rheinmetall.com. 

External links [edit]

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Rheinmetall
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Germany MDAX companies of Germany
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