The complete history of the development of The - The Linde Group

48
1949 1950
Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and German Democratic
Republic (GDR) founded.
Beginning of the Korean War.
N o 1149 Combustion engine
with thrust cam mechanism for tractors, etc.
Building refrigerated display cases in the factory in Mainz-Kostheim
(approx. 1950).
In 1944 the bombs struck Maschinenfabrik Sürth. The MATRA
plants were also heavily damaged. The plant in Kahl am Main,
to which some of the production had been shifted, remained
unharmed, and so production was able to resume quickly here
after the war.
The oxygen plants in Magdeburg, Bielefeld and Dresden also
fell victim to the bombing war. In February 1945 the administration
building in Wiesbaden went up in flames, destroying the
valuable drawing archives.
War’s end: a new beginning
Despite all of the destruction, Linde suffered less from the war
than many other German companies. For one thing, the company
was little involved in occupied areas. For another, its main
production facilities were located in the western parts of Germany
and were largely spared from expropriation and dismantling after
the war. And finally, the Linde Company did not manufacture any
actual weapons and so could continue and expand its existing
production program unchanged both during and after the war.
Although reconstruction work was delayed due to a shortage
of building materials and specialists until 1949, the Linde
Company nevertheless managed to turn a profit once more in
1946 of about 1.7 million Reichsmarks. This was offset, however,
by a loss of almost 3.7 million Reichsmarks carried forward from
the previous year and charged against 1946 and 1947.
Expropriation after the war
Linde companies and subsidiaries in Hungary and Austria were
expropriated after the war. The feared loss of all foreign subsidiaries
in the west was largely prevented, however. Only two
plants in Alsace and Lorraine built after the start of the war
were lost.