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

1971 1972
German Chancellor Willy Brandt receives
the Nobel Peace Prize.
Prof. Dr. Hermann Linde (born in 1917)
The third generation of the Linde AG Executive Board:
Dr. Hermann Linde as speaker of the Executive Board (1972-1976).
The fourth son of Richard Linde was born
on November 12, 1917 in Munich, studied
physics at the Technical University in
Munich, receiving his Dr. rer. nat. degree
in 1948. He began his professional career
in January 1949 in the chemical department
in Höllriegelskreuth. One year later
he transferred to the process technology
office.
In 1957 he became manager of the
technical office, assembly office, calculation
office and manufacturing areas in
Höllriegelskreuth and in Schalchen with
power of attorney.
In 1961 he was appointed as a deputy
member and in 1965 as a regular member
of the Executive Board of Linde AG with
responsibility for the low temperature
engineering and process technology
section of the Munich plant group. Under
his leadership the former equipment
60
manufacturer went into large plant engineering,
in which Linde acted as general
contractor for the customer with overall
responsibility for the individual projects.
In 1970 Hermann Linde also took on
the supervision of the Sürth division and
a year later of refrigerated buildings as
well. In 1972 he was appointed speaker
of the Executive Board, a position which
he held until 1976.
The ongoing restructuring of the Executive
Board’s responsibilities and the centralization
of the company management
in Wiesbaden were left to his successor
at the top of the company, Dr. Hans
Meinhardt.
On September 30, 1976 Hermann Linde
stepped down from the Executive Board
of Linde AG and went to TU Munich as an
honorary professor. He lives in Pullach,
near Munich.
N o 2123 Process for the separation
of nitrogen-containing natural gas.
USA and USSR sign SALT treaty to
limit strategic arms.
A new generation: beginning of the strategy
debate
The second generation change in the Executive Board of the
Linde Company since the company’s founding in 1879 took
place in the early 1950s, this time from Carl von Linde’s sons
(-in-law) to his grandsons. In 1952, at the age of 81, Friedrich
Linde gave up the Executive Board chairmanship to his brotherin-law
Rudolf Wucherer (p. 45), serving instead on the Supervisory
Board until 1961. Wucherer held the post of chairman
of the Executive Board until 1954, when he handed it over to
Hugo Ombeck (see also page 49). Rudolf Wucherer joined the
Supervisory Board in the middle of 1955, where he remained
until 1965. Ombeck served in the post of chairman of the Executive
Board until just 1961 and handed it over to Rudolf’s son
Johannes Wucherer (see also page 57), a grandson of Carl von
Linde. Johannes Wucherer came to the Linde Company after
receiving his Doctorate in engineering. He first became a deputy
member in 1955 and then in 1957 a regular member of the
Executive Board.
Richard Linde had stepped down from the leadership of the
equipment and plant engineering division and his chairmanship
in 1950 and served thereafter in the Supervisory Board until
1955. He died in 1961. Richard Linde’s successor in Höllriegelskreuth
and in the Executive Board was his longtime employee
Walter Ruckdeschel.
In 1961, Hermann Linde, the fourth son of Richard Linde,
became the last member of the family thus far to serve in the
Executive Board and served as head of facilities engineering.
In 1972 the Supervisory Board named him spokesman of the
Executive Board.