The story
The beginnings under Ernst Blickle
The company started with the designer Albert Obermoser. His geared motor, designed in 1928, revolutionized drive technology. Christian Pähr, a trained banker, recognized the enormous potential of that drive design and acquired the rights to the geared motor from the bankrupt estate of Obermoser AG. Despite economic and political turmoil, he founded the company "Süddeutsche-Elektromotoren-Werke" in 1931, known since 1971 as SEW-EURODRIVE. Christian Pähr died in 1935. His wife Kunigunde Pähr took over the company with the support of their daughter Edeltraut Pähr. In 1945, Ernst Wilhelm Blickle, Christian Pähr's son-in-law, took over as managing director of the company.
SEW produced motors until 1945, when the Allied Strategic Command bombed Bruchsal into rubble. After Germany's surrender, the company became an entity of the US via the Marshall Plan. In 1948, the company was returned to its owners, the Blickles. Due to increasing production demands following the economic growth after the war, Ernst Blickle laid the cornerstone for a 10,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in Graben, ten kilometers away. In the wake of a plant expansion at a later time, Ernst Blickle also had social rooms constructed for his employees and training workshops.
In 1965, SEW-EURODRIVE presented its innovative modular system for gearmotors. The customized production is organized centrally in a small number of plants with high volumes while assembly is performed as close as possible to the customer. This ensures a greater degree of customization with short delivery times. After the death of Ernst Blickle in 1987, his sons Rainer and Jürgen Blickle took over as managing partners of SEW-EURODRIVE.
Foundations
SEW-EURODRIVE Foundation
In November 1989, Edeltraut Blickle established the SEW-EURODRIVE Foundation in memory of her husband Ernst Wilhelm Blickle. Ever since, the foundation has promoted scientific work and the further development of scientific knowledge in the areas of technology (basic and applied research) and business (management, corporate governance, and policy).
Prizes
The Ernst Blickle Prize, worth €100,000, has been awarded by the SEW-EURODRIVE Foundation since 1991. Today, it is presented every two years. Prize winners are selected by the board of trustees and a specially appointed committee according to the foundation charter. Previous prize winners:
1991 Manfred Depenbrock, Bochum (Germany)
1992 Hans Winter (†), Munich (Germany)
1993 Wolfgang Finke, Wachtberg-Ließem (Germany)
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1994 Darle W. Dudley (†), San Diego (United States)
1995 Ferenc Anistis, Haidershofen (Austria)
1996 Manfred Rose, Heidelberg (Germany)
1997 Manfred Weck, Aachen (Germany)
1998 Jörg Hugel, Zürich (Switzerland)
1999 Georges Henriot, Gif-sur Yvette (France)
2000 Richard van Basshuysen, Bad Wimpfen (Germany)
2002 Joachim Milberg, Munich (Germany)
2004 Fred C. Lee (United States)
2006 Bernd-Robert Höhn, Munich (Germany)
2008 Gerd Hirzinger, Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany)
2010 Michael Rogowski, Stuttgart (Germany)
2012 Martin Kannegiesser, Poznań (Poland)
2014 Leo Lorenz
2016 Martin A. Kapp
Edeltraudt-Blickle-Stiftung
In September 1992, Rainer Blickle established the Edeltraut Blickle Foundation. The foundation pursues charitable purposes only. The foundation supports medical research establishments, hospitals, and other institutes in the area of health care and people in need of social and medical care.
From Wikipedia’s article on SEW Eurodrive, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4