Anniversary cruises

Kurt A. Körber expressed his affinity to the city of Hamburg in various ways. In addition to the city's cultural life, he promoted Hamburg as a location of industry and commerce. For example, he supported the shipbuilding industry by investing in the cruise ship "TS Hamburg" at the request of the former First Mayor, Herbert Weichmann. His employees also benefited from this investment: on the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary, Kurt A. Körber sponsored several cruises for them on the ships in which he was financially involved as an investor.

From Hamburg to the world: Kurt A. Körber started early with the interna­tion­alization of the company

In 1949, just three years after founding the Hauni Maschinenfabrik, Kurt A. Körber began to build a worldwide customer and sales network for his company. One of the most important steps for Kurt A. Körber's expansion was the leap across the pond: all the major American cigarette corporations had their headquarters in the US states of Virginia or North Carolina. In the spring of 1955, Kurt A. Körber acquired a suitable site in the East Coast city of Richmond. Specialists from the Bergedorf headquarters lead the establishment of the new location, which quickly developed into a thriving business.

Branches followed in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Rome, London, and Zurich. Soon Hauni was represented worldwide – from Egypt to Vietnam and from Australia to Canada. Hauni not only shipped machine parts all over the world but also ensured that its fitters supervised the installation and maintenance of the machines on site.

Kurt A. Körber's final breakthrough as a leading supplier to the tobacco industry came with the "MAX" filter assembler, which was delivered from 1956 onwards and – like its successor models – quickly became a bestseller. The machines were even delivered to overseas customers by cargo plane due to the high demand. An unprecedented success story: Within a few years, Kurt A. Körber has built up an internationally successful company almost from nothing.

Start-up since 1946? Sure, it was the birth of a global technology group

Many myths surround the founding of the Körber Group. According to legend, Kurt A. Körber made his first sales call on 14 July 1946 in a telephone booth at one of Hamburg's bigger railway stations. That was the moment Hauni Maschinenfabrik is founded. For his small business, Kurt A. Körber rented a basement workshop in Bergedorf to repair damaged cigarette makers. He developed his first cigarette machines shortly afterwards. The "MAX" filter assembler quickly became a bestseller on the world market.

Ring, ring – here come the news with the “Hauni-Glocken” (Hauni Bells)

For long, the "Hauni Glocken" (Hauni Bells) were Hauni's company magazine (today these are employee or customer magazines or apps). The first issue occurred in March 1958 with a foreword by Kurt A. Körber: "May it be the aim and task of our newly established company magazine to maintain and promote our good human sense and the awareness of us as a community." As a link between workplace and family - and later between company and customers, the magazine enjoyed great popularity. In addition to reports on special events and news from the company, the "Hauni Glocken" also featured articles on activities outside business, such as unusual hobbies of colleagues. Special issues came up on the occasion of the opera and theater events sponsored by Kurt A. Körber to his employees, providing information about the cultural life in the city of Hamburg.

Kurt A. Körber and his passion for famous quotes

One of Kurt A. Körber's habits was to place quotes from well-known personalities on objects or walls of buildings. Here you can see a pewter tankard from 1991, with a quote from the Greek philosopher Socrates: "Whoever believes to be something has stopped to become something.”

The Nazi Era and the war years

In 1935, Kurt A. Körber moved to Dresden to join the "Universelle-Werke J. C. Müller & Co”, a leading company for the production of cigarette machines. There, he rose to the position of Technical Director by 1944. As a strategically important wartime supplier, "Universelle" also started producing armaments. Therefore, the company used around 3,000 foreign and forced laborers in the period from 1941 to 1945.

In retrospect, Kurt A. Körber's behavior at the time appears contradictory: He was actively involved in the company's armaments production and joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1940. At the same time, he protected persecuted company employees. Initiated by the Körber-Stiftung, the Institute of Contemporary History has intensively studied the characteristics and motives of Kurt A. Körber's opportunistic attitude during the Nazi Era. You can read the complete study here - unfortunately only available in German.

If you have further questions on this topic, please contact group.communications@koerber.com.

Source: SLUB Dresden / Deutsche Fotothek / Walter Hahn