Translations:Gaggenau/3/en
The smithy had a number of tenants in the intervening years of the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1873, the plant was purchased by the entrepreneur Michael Flürscheim from Frankfurt together with Franz Korwan and named "Korwan und Flürscheim Eisenwerke Gaggenau bei Rastatt". However, Korwan left the business again that same year for health reasons. The company was renamed "Michael Flürscheim Eisenwerke Gaggenau".[1] During his time as director, Flürscheim developed the plant to become the first major industrial undertaking in the region, producing a wide range of ironware such as agricultural equipment and tools. Flürscheim established social institutions in his company which were ahead of their time, including a health insurance fund for workers and their families and a consumer association that allowed employees to buy everyday goods cheaply.[2] The fate of Gaggenau was sealed when Michael Flürscheim came in contact with cooker manufacturer Theodor Bergmann at the Berlin Trade Fair in 1879. Flürscheim was so impressed by Bergmann's eloquence at the stand that he convinced him to come on board with him in Gaggenau.
- ↑ Michael Wessel: Michael Flürscheim. Industrieller – Sozialökonom – Utopist, Buch & Bild Wessel GmbH, Gaggenau 2014, page 143.
- ↑ Helmut Böttcher: Ein Beitrag zur Stadtgeschichte: Michael Flürscheim - a great entrepreneur and social reformer, who died 85 years ago, 1997 in: Materialien zur Geschichte der Eisenwerke Gaggenau (C03- 0296), BSH Corporate Archives.