Formed in 1929 through the union of three of the region’s machinery plants, this enterprise has grown to be one of the largest manufacturers of construction and industrial machines in eastern Germany.
The history of the concern dates back to 1854 when Anton Bernhardi established in Eilenburg a factory for the construction of machines to produce sand-lime bricks to his patented design. This material was seen as a high-quality, low-cost building material necessary for constructing decent housing for workers. His firm, Maschinenbauanstalt Dr. Bernhardi und Sohn, prospered through the latter portions of the Nineteenth Century, producing artificial stone presses for limestone, sand and cement products as well as mortar mixing machines, polishing and shredders and briquette-making machines for the brown coal industry.
In 1877 Alexander Monski established a factory for the manufacture of patent blowers, pumps and hot-air turbines for the steel industry as Eisengießerei und Maschinenfabrik A. Monski, which remained a prosperous if middling firm among the suppliers of Germany’s burgeoning steel industry. The third component was the machine factory of Carl Lucke, founded in 1879 to manufacture presses for metal stamping.
Under the leadership of the Commerzbank these factories united in 1929 in response to the growing demand in Germany and abroad for construction machines and industrial process equipment. With additional capital inflow the enterprise was able to undertake the manufacture of pumps for the emerging petroleum industry, high speed brick-forming presses for the construction industry and concrete casting machines that would play a vital role in construction of the National Motorways System.
In 1935 the enterprise concentrated its production at a new complex located in Eilenburg-Ost, bringing together what had been the activities of three separate companies. The new facilities included a headquarters building, several machine construction shops, a vocational school for training apprentices, a social centre with medical facilities for workers, and a workers’ canteen, all served by its own rail siding. The firm employs more than two thousand workers, and much of its production is for export.