Translations:Die Geschichte der Marke Constructa/5/en
The first model of a comparable washing machine was developed in Germany by Peter Pfenningsberg from the town of Mettmann. He produced the first German washing machines in small numbers in his home town from around the end of the 1940s.[1] The Düsseldorf-based entrepreneur Heinrich Reining recognized the potential and invested in the idea. The company Peter Pfenningsberg Maschinenbau GmbH[2] was founded in 1951 in Düsseldorf. Pfenningsberg soon succeeded in developing his washing machine so that it no longer required a hot water connection. Apart from the "Pfenningsberg Universal" washing machine for commercial use, Pfenningsberg also presented an unnamed "fully automatic washing machine for the modern home" at the Constructa trade fair in Hanover. At a price of 2,280 deutschmarks, the machine was prohibitively expensive for the average household (the average monthly income at the time was around 500 deutschmarks) and had to be screwed down to a concrete base with four strong screws so that it didn't "walk" around the room when spinning. The machine got its name from the trade fair in Hanover and was exhibited under the name "Pfenningsberg's CONSTRUCTA" at the spring fair in Cologne in 1952.[3]
- ↑ See Hans Josef Hadeler: Erinnerungen- und die ersten automatischen Waschmaschinen, in: Die Quecke, Ratinger und Angerländer Heimatblätter, 68 (1998), pages 166-167, page 166 here. Or in Düsseldorf? Accounts vary.
- ↑ See Michael Lumer: Constructa, die Geschichte einer deutschen Waschmaschinen-Marke, Vor 40 Jahren verlegte Constructa seine Fertigung nach Lintorf, in: Die Quecke, Ratinger und Angerländer Heimatblätter, 68 (1998), page 168-191, page 169 here.
- ↑ Constructa Werke GmbH, 1965 in: Document collection folder (general) 1951-1958 Constructa, company history, BSH Corporate Archives, page 7.