Robert Bosch GmbH: Difference between revisions

The reconstruction following the war years progressed successfully. Most of the foreign subsidiaries were rebuilt and some new ones added. The product range was expanded to include a host of new innovations, including a diesel injection pump in addition to vehicle lighting, windshield wipers and power brakes. Further production branches were added by the mid-1930s, with production of home appliances commencing in 1933 with the first electric refrigerator. Robert Bosch AG transformed itself at this time from a pure automotive supplier to a broadly diversified electronics corporation. Robert Bosch turned the public limited company (AG) into a limited liability company (GmbH) in keeping with his "... desire that Robert Bosch GmbH (...) remains active for as many generations as possible, securing their financial independence, their autonomy and capacity to act at all times." During the years of National Socialism in Germany, the company acted in the same way as other German family businesses guided by politically liberal-minded and European thinking individuals. Employees suffering persecution and others known to management received support and were, where possible, protected against deportation. At the same time, however, because the company was an important manufacturer of armaments, goods vital to the war effort were produced by the company, sometimes with the use of forced labor, which allowed National Socialist Germany to wage wars of aggression. Robert Bosch did not survive the end of the war. He died from an ear infection in 1942.<ref>Robert Bosch GmbH (Hrsg.): Bosch 125 Jahre Technik fürs Leben. Stuttgart, 2011, pages 66-83.</ref>