Discover Germany | Special Theme | HANNOVER MESSE 2017
MENZEL Elektromotoren engine plant in Berlin.
MENZEL Motors
Running for 90 years If you understand how a motor works, how all the different parts intersect and work together, then there should be no problem with regard to running a successful, sustainable business. MENZEL Elektromotoren GmbH is the perfect example for this, as the producer of practical, durable drive solutions is turning 90 years old this year. TEXT: THOMAS SCHROERS I PHOTOS: MENZEL ELEKTROMOTOREN GMBH
Kurt Menzel, grandfather of current CEO Mathis Menzel, was only 23 years old, when he laid the foundation for the MENZEL Motors story. It was Berlin in 1927 when he found the Kurt Menzel Elektromotoren company. After about 15 years, the company faced its first great challenge, when the warehouses, workshops and offices were damaged by bombs 78 | Issue 49 | April 2017
during the Second World War. With a great deal of diligence and hard work, the Menzels prevailed and, about ten years later, the company first expanded by relocating to a 10,000-square-metre-large property. At the new site, production halls and warehouses were built and, after 50 years, with the entry of Kurt Menzel junior, the future of the family business was secured.
Kurt Menzel Senior in 1927.
With the entry of Menzel junior, the company changed its name to MENZEL Elektromotoren GmbH, the name it has become known for during the last decades. Growth characterised these decades, as Menzel continuously expanded the business, by developing new property around Berlin. In 2007, Mathis Menzel became part of the management team and has now followed his father as CEO. Since then, MENZEL Elektromotoren has developed internationally by initiating subsidiaries in Scandinavia, France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain. When asked about the long-time success, Mathis Menzel says: “I’d like to refer to my