Brökelmann, Jäger und Busse

Brökelmann, Jäger und Busse (BJB) is a German mid-sized company headquartered in Arnsberg-Neheim, North Rhine-Westphalia. It traces its origins to 1867, when the entrepreneurs Gustav Busse, Franz Jaeger and Friedrich Wilhelm Brökelmann founded the limited partnership G. Busse & Co. to manufacture petroleum burners and finished lamps. After a liquidation and re-formation as Brökelmann, Jaeger & Co. in 1871, the company became one of the leading metalworking firms in Neheim. Following the death of Friedrich Wilhelm Brökelmann in 1890, the family business was divided; Wilhelm Brökelmann became the main partner of Brökelmann, Jaeger & Co., which was renamed Brökelmann, Jaeger und Busse (BJB) in 1893. As electric light displaced petroleum lamps, BJB began producing lamp sockets in 1913/14 and gradually concentrated on this business. In the interwar years the company shifted to mechanized mass production and increasingly identified itself as an electrotechnical factory. During the Nazi era, BJB adapted to the regime, produced armaments and employed forced laborers; by 1940/41 it made 30% of all lamp sockets produced in Germany. After World War II, BJB rebuilt and expanded, becoming a specialist in lamp holders, sockets and electrotechnical components for lighting. The company remains a privately held, family-influenced mid-sized enterprise (GmbH & Co. KG) and continues to operate from its historic base in the Sauerland region.

The company was founded in 1867 when Gustav Busse (1835–1919), Franz Jaeger (1829–1902) and Friedrich Wilhelm Brökelmann (1799–1890) signed a contract to establish the limited partnership G. Busse & Co. It focused on manufacturing petroleum burners and also produced finished lamps. Brökelmann was primarily involved as a financier and investor. Because the financial demands on Brökelmann were higher than expected, the firm was liquidated and re-formed in 1871 as Brökelmann, Jaeger & Co. The previously independent firm Jaeger & Co. was absorbed into this enterprise. In its first year, the company employed 96 workers and generated sales of 90,000 thalers, ranking second by workforce and first by sales among Neheim's metalworking firms. Jaeger and Brökelmann handled commercial management, while Busse was responsible for production. After a fire destroyed numerous casting molds in 1873, the production of finished lamps was curtailed, and after another fire in 1880 it was largely abandoned except for a few simple types. The manufacture of petroleum burners became central, and the company kept pace with technical developments. Initially dependent on the steam engine of Brökelmann's oil mill, it acquired its first own steam engine of ten horsepower in 1875. New machines with higher output followed in the coming decades. By 1892 the steam engine delivered 125 hp and for the first time also generated electricity to drive machines. As early as 1867 a support fund for workers was established, from which a company health insurance fund emerged in 1885. After Friedrich Wilhelm Brökelmann's death in 1890, the family business was divided among the heirs. Wilhelm Brökelmann (1829–1929) received the shares in Brökelmann, Jaeger & Co., while Friedrich Brökelmann received the firms under the umbrella F. W. Brökelmann. Wilhelm Brökelmann became the main partner of Brökelmann, Jaeger & Co., and in 1893 the company was renamed Brökelmann, Jaeger und Busse (BJB). Not least because technical development led to fears of de-skilling among craft-trained workers, the labor movement began to gain a foothold in the company toward the end of the 19th century. In 1899 a first strike occurred, which directly led to the founding of the Sauerländer Gewerkverein, a union within the Christian trade unions. Economically, the importance of petroleum burners declined with the triumph of electric light. While other Neheim firms had long begun to convert, BJB only started producing lamp sockets in 1913/14. It subsequently concentrated on this line of business. In this context, the mechanization of production and the importance of unskilled and semi-skilled labor increased. Shortly before World War I, a new generation of entrepreneurs took over: Adolf Brökelmann (1877–1944) and Walter Busse (1878–1946) were engineers, while Franz Jaeger (1861–1930) had an international commercial education. BJB benefited from the post-World War I economic boom. Workforce numbers grew, production facilities were expanded, and an administration building was erected. In the following years the company suffered not only from hyperinflation but also faced the prospect that the manufacture of incandescent lamp sockets would pass into the hands of the large electrical corporations. Consequently, the company focused on the production of lamp holders and now regarded itself as an electrotechnical factory. In the mid-1920s, inspired by American Fordism, the transition to mechanized mass production began. Machines were largely operated by women, and numerous unskilled female workers were also employed on the new assembly lines. BJB was severely affected by the Great Depression. Only in 1935 did significant new investment occur. Internally, the company was adapted to the Nazi regime. However, a shortage of skilled workers in 1936 led to the founding of a training workshop, one of the first in-company workshops in the region. Until then production had been based on metalworking; in the 1930s the use of the plastic Bakelite was added, with molds produced by the company's own machine shop. In the course of rearmament, a subsidiary, Ruhr-Metallwarenfabrik GmbH, was founded in 1937 for projectile production. During the war BJB itself became a producer of armaments, which accounted for 50% of sales in 1940. But peacetime goods were also considered war-essential. Of the incandescent lamp sockets produced in Germany in 1940/41, BJB alone made 30%. The petroleum burners still produced went mainly to the Reichsbahn. In contrast, lamp holder production declined. As the war progressed, the number of foreign forced laborers increased. For the needs of all Neheim industry, the Möhnewiesen forced labor camp was established for initially 700 people on the Möhne river. BJB built a barracks for one hundred female workers. Due to the destruction of the Möhne valley... [text truncated]

• 1940

  Armaments account for 50% of sales; BJB produces 30% of German incandescent lamp sockets in 1940/41.

• 1937

  Subsidiary Ruhr-Metallwarenfabrik GmbH founded for projectile production.

• 1936

  Founding of a training workshop due to skilled worker shortage.

• 1935

  Significant new investment after the Great Depression.

• 1913

  BJB begins production of lamp sockets for incandescent lamps.

• 1899

  First strike leads to founding of Sauerländer Gewerkverein.

• 1893

  Company renamed Brökelmann, Jaeger und Busse (BJB).

• 1890

  Death of Friedrich Wilhelm Brökelmann; family business divided among heirs.

• 1875

  Acquisition of first own steam engine (10 hp).

• 1871

  Company liquidated and re-formed as Brökelmann, Jaeger & Co.; Jaeger & Co. absorbed.

• 1867

  Gustav Busse, Franz Jaeger and Friedrich Wilhelm Brökelmann found G. Busse & Co. to manufacture petroleum burners and lamps.

Mid-sized German specialist in electrotechnical components, particularly lamp holders and sockets, with a long tradition in the lighting industry.

• Petroleum burners

  Core product in the early decades; supplied mainly to the Reichsbahn during World War II.

• Finished lamps

  Produced initially but largely abandoned after fires in 1873 and 1880.

• Lamp sockets

  Production began in 1913/14; became a major business line.

• Lamp holders

  Focus from the interwar period onward; company positioned as electrotechnical factory.

1. 1Brökelmann, Jäger und Busse – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
2. 2Brökelmann, Jäger und Busse – Wikidatawikidata.org