page_title: Sächsische Maschinenfabrik
section_title: Founding and growth into a major business
hierarchical_section_title: Sächsische Maschinenfabrik / Company history / Founding and growth into a major business
caption_attribution_description: English: This image shows the advertising of Richard Hartmanns factory. Hartmann was one of the most successful entrepreneurs and largest employers in the Kingdom of Saxony. The advertisement was published 1861. Deutsch: Das Bild zeigt eine Werbeanzeige der Maschinenfabrik von Richard Hartmann (1809-1878). Die Anzeige erschien 1861 in der von Friedrich Georg Wieck herausgegebenen "Illustrierten Gewerbezeitung".
context_page_description: The Sächsische Maschinenfabrik in Chemnitz was one of the most important engineering companies in Saxony in the second half of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century. Including its various predecessor businesses, the firm existed from 1837 until its liquidation in 1930, and individual branches of the company taken over by others continued to operate until 1990. The company is closely linked with the name of its founder and long-time manager, Richard Hartmann, whose name formed part of the new company title in 1898: the Sächsische Maschinenfabrik vormals Richard Hartmann.
context_section_description: In 1837 August Götze and Richard Hartmann founded the firm of Götze & Hartmann, that produced a very wide range of machines. Hartmann, who had acquired experience in numerous businesses, very quickly grasped the significance of many technical innovations. As early as 1839 the business developed the technical concept of a carded yarn speed frame that was developed into a marketable product and sold successfully. But the most important business was for some time the repair and design of individual technical solutions (equivalent to the present-day concept of special purpose machines). In 1842 about 200 employees were engaged in the business.
  In the years to 1845 the company underwent numerous expansions and relocations within the Chemnitz area.
  From 1848 steam locomotives were built by the firm now dominated by Hartmann, but this branch of the business did not take off until a decade later. To begin with their major customer, the Royal Saxon State Railways, had to be convinced of the quality of their products through the delivery of very small batches of engines.
  From 1855 the  Sächsische Maschinenfabrik also produced turbines and mill equipment, so that by 1857 the work force had grown to about 1,500 employees. In the mid-1860s, steam locomotive production reached a very high level; to wit in 1868 a new production hall was built in which up to 36 locomotives could be simultaneously mounted.
caption: Poster for the engineering works (1861)
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