This enterprise was founded in 1895 by Hugo Junkers in Dessau, to undertake the manufacture of appliances such as water heaters and other inventions of the founder.
The 1892 Hugo Junkers designed and patented a calorimeter, an instrument for measuring the calorific value of gases, which proved to be the first of many heat engineering devices he would go on to create. In 1894 he designed and patented a ‘liquid heater’ based on the calorimeter principle. To undertake the production of these (and other) devices, Junkers entered into partnership with Robert Ludwig to open in 1895 a factory in Albrechtstrasse, Dessau.
In 1896 Junkers introduced a wall-hung water heater that would function without need of a chimney connection – the hot gas column in the combustion chamber was sufficiently powerful to draw the necessary combustion air. The firm produced this and other heating equipment – such as low-pressure steam heating systems, warm air stoves, gas heating stoves, and gas heating elements for fireplaces and radiators. On December 16, 1911, the 100,000th gas device from Junkers was manufactured. In the same year, the company already employed 220 people.
During the Great War the firm’s civilian production was discontinued for the duration. However, at the close of hostilities, production of heating equipment was resumed in a new facility in Junkersstrasse. The new factory was expanded several times, with a new administration block completed in 1928. The first electric water heaters were brought to the market in 1924, representing a significant expansion of the firm’s product line. The corporate strategy of offering inexpensive, energy-efficient and high-quality products proved to be a wise choice. Between 1920 and 1929, annual sales rose from 14,000 to 99,000 units. On October 12, 1927, the firm manufactured its 500,000th gas appliance.
The NEA 38 hot water generator, which Junkers launched in 1928, was a nationally and internationally pioneering redesign. A characteristic feature of this new device was the accessibility of the inner body without removing the exhaust pipe. This device was characterized in particular by the accessibility of all parts during operation by the diagonal separation of the housing and removable front wall. The NEA 38 made it easy to clean and check the functions, as well as easy installation and removal of the fittings, the burner and the inner body. The housing was enamelled on the outside and inside, making it easy to clean. Further product innovations would follow, including improved ignition-safe gas switches, a coal-fired furnace with a steel jacket, a new gas central heating boiler, and a heat selector for the water heater to ensure a largely constant outlet temperature regardless of the respective gas and water pressure. Junkers gas appliances were exported to almost all European countries. In 1933 the firm joined with British partners to form Ascot Gas Water Heaters Ltd. of Neasden, near London, where licence production Junkers-designed heating equipment was undertaken.
In recent years the firm’s product line of gas appliances had expanded to include stoves, cookers, ovens, and steam boilers. Output exceeds 250,000 units per year, with more than half the output being exported. More than 3,200 workers are employed in appliance manufacture in the Dessau works.