Robert Bosch GmbH Historical Communications (C/CCH) Postfach 30 02 20 70442 Stuttgart Robert Bosch Germany Phone +49 711 811-44156 His life and work Fax +49 711 811-44504 Director: Dr. Kathrin Fastnacht www.bosch.com/cch Further copies of this brochure can be ordered by email from: [email protected] Journal of Bosch History Supplement 1 2 | Supplement 1 | Journal of Bosch History Robert Bosch | 3 Foreword Contents Cover photo: This brochure is dedicated to the life and work of Robert Bosch. This 4 The man Robert Bosch leaving the 6 “I also lacked the necessary patience and ambition” Stadthalle in Stuttgart completely new edition has been prepared by Robert Bosch GmbH and Childhood and education on September 23, 1936, Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH. Its task is not to present a comprehensive following the ceremonies on the occasion of the history of the company, but instead to sketch a portrait of Robert Bosch 12 “Dear Anna ...” fiftieth anniversary of the against the background of his personal and professional life. Robert Bosch’s marriage to Anna Kayser company. The day also marked his seventy-fifth 16 Assistant, advisor, and intermediary birthday. Robert Bosch had a watchword which guided him from his early youth: Robert Bosch’s marriage to Margarete Wörz “Never forget your humanity, and respect human dignity in your dealings with others.” Even if he was an enthusiastic technician and a passionate 20 Hunter’s tales and a natural paradise entrepreneur, it was people he was most interested in, and leadership Robert Bosch, hunter and farmer was his greatest strength. 26 The entrepreneur 28 “I would much prefer to do business on my own” The way he lived, also privately, the experience that shaped his thinking, The Workshop for Precision Mechanics the economic and political challenges he was forced to rise up to: all these and Electrical Engineering things make the portrait of the man clearer and more meaningful – a man 32 The spark of genius who was a freethinking cosmopolitan with solid roots in his southwestern Robert Bosch and the magneto ignition device German homeland, a champion of technology whose heart nonetheless belonged to nature, a political thinker prone to outbursts of emotion, and 38 The years that changed everything Rationalization, diversification, and agreements yet a father figure and model of circumspection. 42 “Associates,” not wage earners It never ceases to surprise me how much of Robert Bosch lingers on in the From 1890, Robert Bosch visited Robert Bosch as an employer his customers on a bicycle he had company and the foundation today, almost 70 years after his death. Yet he imported from England expressly 46 The visionary did not hand his successors a strict rulebook that might limit their freedom for this purpose. In contrast to other bicycles of the day with their high 48 Education and healthcare to act. His is a subtler influence, born of his strength of character, his cha- wheels in front and low in the back, The civic initiatives of Robert Bosch risma. Indeed, his plausibility as a role model derives from his flaws as much his was quick and safe to ride. With his “safety bike,” the young entre- 52 The healing power of nature as it does from his qualities. He was a contemporary who was rough at the preneur caused something of a stir Homeopath and “lifestyle reformer” edges, a person who could be difficult. He was the source of much reverence on the streets of Stuttgart. and much offense. Above all, he was an object of respect, since people knew 56 Liberal politics and social responsibility he was a careful thinker and keen observer, and that he was a person who Robert Bosch and politics kept his word, who “walked the talk.” 60 His final wishes The will of Robert Bosch I hope this brochure will find many readers, since it offers a chance to learn about Robert Bosch as a person, as well as about the origins of our 64 The lasting legacy of Robert Bosch company. Finally, it helps them to understand the respect the founder com- 70 Timeline mands to this very day, as well as the fascination evoked by his company. Dr. Christof Bosch 4 | Supplement 1 | Journal of Bosch History Robert Bosch | 5 The man Robert Bosch with his wife Margarete and his son Robert junior, 1931 6 | Supplement 1 | Journal of Bosch History Robert Bosch | 7 “ I also lacked the necessary patience and ambition” Childhood and education by Dr. Kathrin Fastnacht For a man who would go down in history as the founder of a successful global technology and services company, Robert Bosch failed to show much inclina- tion for such matters at school. Indeed, all indications pointed, if anything, to a somewhat different career path: “My preference lay more with zoology and botany, but I was not at all fond of school [...].” However, his aversion was directed toward his teachers and, later, his instructors, rather than the subjects he was expected to learn. Even during his school years, Robert Bosch had a thirst for knowledge and had a wide range of interests. Robert Bosch was born on September 23, inn late with their wagons, or to prepare Left: 1861, in Albeck near Ulm in southern malt lozenges for Robert whenever he Robert Bosch with his sister Maria, 1871 Germany. He was the eleventh of twelve was ill. children born to Servatius Bosch, the pros- perous innkeeper of the “Krone” in Albeck, The move to Ulm and his wife Maria Margaretha. Both par- The family’s move to Ulm marked the ents had inherited considerable property, first major upheaval in Robert Bosch’s which allowed the father to include farming life. In 1869, Servatius Bosch sold his and brewing among his trades. His father, inn and retired from business at the age a freemason with politically liberal views, of 53. Plans for a new railroad between was a very widely-read and well-educated Ulm and Heidenheim led him to fear he man. Robert Bosch later described his would lose his main customers, the team- mother as an exceedingly hard-working sters whose route took them through and sympathetic woman, always willing to Albeck. In addition, none of his adult get up during the night to provide meals children wanted to take over the inn for teamsters whenever they arrived at the and the farm that went with it. Robert Bosch’s mother Robert Bosch’s father Maria Margaretha Servatius (1816 – 1880), (1818 – 1898), photo- photograph of an oil graph of an oil painting, painting, c. 1838 c. 1838 8 | Supplement 1 | Journal of Bosch History Robert Bosch | 9 Robert Bosch during his military service, 1881 – 1882 Top left: Robert Bosch attended the secondary- Maier paid hardly any attention to the to Stuttgart, joining C. & E. Fein, a pioneer resumed his itinerant lifestyle as a journey- Below left: The house where technical school in Ulm, but he did not training of his apprentices, was frequently in the field of electrical engineering. Again, man. At the factory of Sigmund Schuckert From the fall of 1882 Robert Bosch was born, until the summer of have fond memories of this period: “I more absent from the workshop, and was gener- in Albeck, near Ulm: he remained there for just a few months in Nuremberg, he was mainly occupied 1883, Robert Bosch the inn “Zur Krone” or less muddled my way through school. ally unable to pass on much of value to before continuing his journeyman’s travels with the manufacture of electrical measur- worked at the factory We had a whole host of teachers who were those under his tutelage. After three years, and spending the time between spring ing instruments. However, as he noted, of Sigmund Schuckert Top right: either old or past it.” Although his ability at the age of 18, Bosch completed his 1880 and spring 1881 working in a chain “I couldn’t put up with Schuckert long in Nuremberg. From 1869 to 1876, ensured he remained in the upper half of apprenticeship. Above all else, his dream Robert Bosch attended factory in Hanau, near Frankfurt am Main. either, and by the summer I was already Below right: the secondary-technical the class, he never excelled. However, as now was to explore the world and learn It was during this time that his father died. in Göppingen with a man named Schäffer Robert Bosch, 1884 school on Olgastrasse he admitted himself: “I also lacked the something new. Robert Bosch was convinced his father’s who […] built arc lamps.” in Ulm. necessary patience and ambition.” For that death was a direct result of his life of lei- reason, and despite his desire to take up Journeyman’s travels sure: “It would have been better for him Predictably, the construction of arc studies in the field of zoology or botany, Having tried in vain to get a job in Heidel- not to have retired so early.” lamps joined the ranks of the occupations he opted not to go on to high school and berg, Pforzheim, and Karlsruhe, Robert unable to hold Bosch’s interest for long. qualify for university. Instead, he followed Bosch decided in the fall of 1879 to join In the spring of 1881, Robert Bosch Despite his lack of background knowledge, his father’s advice and began an appren- his brother Karl – 18 years his senior – returned to his brother’s business in he enrolled at Stuttgart Polytechnic as ticeship as a precision mechanic. However, in Cologne. He spent several months Cologne for a further six months to learn a non-registered student for the winter he was unfortunate in his choice of a mas- employed as a brass worker in Karl’s gas more about commercial matters.