CELEBRATING 175 YEARS OF HEIDELBERG ▲ Andreas Hamm and family with the Kaiserglocke in 1875 Hamm devoted himself to bell casting, including the creation of the Kaiserglocke for Cologne Cathedral. In 1894, Wilhelm Müller took over what was then known as “Schnellpressenfabrik” from the Hamm family and moved production to Heidelberg, a well-known university city on the Neckar River. Following the move, Schnellpressenfabrik Heidelberg overcome several economic challenges in the early 1900s and drove innovation with the versatile Heureka rotary press. In 1921, the company’s first windmill press goes into production leading to the Tiegel press, which is manufactured on an assembly line from 1926. The machine quickly went on to become a best- and long-seller thanks to its precision, performance, and reliability. By 1985, the company had manufactured over 160,000 Tiegel presses. In 1926, Hubert H.A Sternberg was appointed to the company board, remaining there until 1972. Sternberg is remembered for modernising production and marketing operations, as well as organising the first German export exhibition in the USA following the Second World War. One of Sternberg’s early marketing ideas was to demonstrate presses to potential customers by taking them to their premises. The presses would be assembled on trucks or installed on buses to later be sent around the world to different markets accompanied by a range of engineers. During the 1930s and ‘40s the company had to navigate the changing marketplace following the liquidation of publishing houses and the prohibition of new printing plants. During the war the company shifted to manufacturing lathes and different units for the German war effort. Fast forward to 1950 and the company celebrated its 100th anniversary with a ceremony held in its cylinder production hall, attracting over 200 guests. A year later, Sternberg, now chief executive officer of Schnellpressenfabrik Heidelberg, co-found drupa, now one of the world’s largest printing trade shows. The first edition of the show featured a new version of the Tiegel which could print 5,00 sheets per hour. In 1967 the company was renamed Heidelberger Druckmaschinen following on from its introduction of offset printing machines (the Heidelberg KOR). In 1974 the Speedmaster series was introduced, which cemented the company as a producer of offset presses. The Speedmaster was capable of printing 11,000 sheets per hour and released a multicolour offset version in 1975. When talking about how much has changed since the company was founded, Miles comments: “So much has changed in terms of technology developments, IoT, AI, industrialisation, and market conditions. However, so much has remained the same in terms of our customer first mindset, our service commitment and infrastructure, our best-in-class machinery, and our people.” Speaking about how HEIDELBERG’s legacy is reflected today, Miles adds: “It is vital that we understand and appreciate the core values and principles that have allowed us to achieve sustainable success We go where our customers are. That mindset remains central, at our Home of Print and with our partners around the globe In July 1957, Schnellpressenfabrik Heidelberg opened its new factory in Wiesloch. The first phase of construction included two production halls, an administrative building, and an office wing, with construction of three more halls continuing up until 1968 Factoid 53 www.printmonthly.co.uk September / October 2025 - Issue 356 ► A HEIDELBERG demonstration bus (Vorführwagen). The Buses were used from 1930s onwards
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjM0NDIxOA==