Skip to main content

70 Years Ago Today- Dr. Hermann Münch Becomes First Chief Trustee and General Director of Volkswagen

  • Dr. Münch paves the way for the Wirtschaftswunder era
  • Employees are the focus of his commitment

Production of the Volkswagen Saloon was begun in December 1945 under British control. On February 26th, 1946 the British Board of Control installed commercial lawyer Dr. Hermann Münch as the Chief Trustee. On June 17th, 1946 Münch was additionally appointed to the newly created post of General Director.

Hermann Münch was born on March 20th, 1885 in the town of Iserlohn in Westphalia. After leaving school and studying law, he worked in lawyers’ offices and as an industrial lawyer. The doctor of laws and self-proclaimed opponent of National Socialism was engaged by Volkswagenwerk GmbH to establish sound structures and provide clearly defined assignment of roles. In his dual role, Münch worked closely with Major Ivan Hirst, the Senior Resident Officer appointed by the British Military Government, as well as with the company’s Works Council, which had been elected for the first time in November 1945.

Committed to the principles of consensus, and an expert in finance, Münch concerned himself with the interests of the approximately 7,000 people employed at the plant. He worked especially hard to procure housing for them. Teamwork between the British Military Government and the German management, paired with a spirit of pragmatism, optimism and an untiring commitment to reconstruction, helped to gradually increase production. On October 14th, 1946 the ten thousandth post-war Volkswagen rolled off the production line.

The agreement negotiated by Dr. Hermann Münch with the Works Council which came into force on May 10th, 1947 safeguarded enhanced rights of co-determination for the employee representatives. Münch effectively prepared the business for the era of Germany’s post-war economic miracle, known as the ‘Wirtschaftswunder’.

Münch was succeeded with effect from January 1st, 1948 by automotive industry manager Heinrich Nordhoff. His successors in turn have been Kurt Lotz, Rudolf Leiding, Toni Schmücker, Carl Horst Hahn, Ferdinand K. Piëch, Bernd Pischetsrieder, Martin Winterkorn and Matthias Müller.

The post 70 Years Ago Today- Dr. Hermann Münch Becomes First Chief Trustee and General Director of Volkswagen appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1WNOweq
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 10 Most Expensive VWs at Barrett-Jackson

Barrett-Jackson just wrapped up its 46th annual Scottsdale auction, which set all kinds of records, including the sale of Kindig-It Design’s 1965 21-Window Deluxe Bus for $302,500 (pictured above and below). Not only did that bus set an auction record, it was the highest priced Volkswagen in Scottsdale that week. While it outdid the next closest VW by quite a margin, it wasn’t the only high priced VW at the show. Here, are the highest priced VWs from the auction: 1. $302,500: 1965 Type II 21-Window Deluxe Bus  Featured on Velocity Channel’s Bitchin’ Rides, this microbus was completely restored by Kindig-it Design and repainted in Mercedes Black and Bentley Magnolia White. With a 1915cc 120 hp flat four out back and a 4-speed transmission, this bus sits on 17″ wheels. 2. $143,000: 1967 21-Window Deluxe Bus Not sure if you noticed a theme here, but we have another 21-window bus in black and white, but this time the colors are flipped and it has a 2,027 cc engine. Comes with a ...
Post a Comment
Read more