When Roche was still talking about "Penzburg" - historian tells anecdotes and talks about explosive times

Created: 06/30/2022, 16:02

By: Wolfgang Schörner

It seems strange how pharmaceuticals were still being advertised a few decades ago - the Boehringer example was shown by historian Paul Erker in his lecture under the heading "Curious".

Such advertising would be illegal today.

© Wolfgang Schorner

The foundation stone for the Boehringer factory and today's Roche factory was laid in Penzberg 50 years ago.

The historian Paul Erker, professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, has written a book about the five decades.

He presented some highlights and anecdotes on Wednesday.

And an appeal: to preserve the old gatehouse.

Penzberg – 213 pages in the book that the Munich company historian Paul Erker wrote after a year of research on behalf of Roche.

It tells of the beginnings in the Tutzingen plant up to today's biotechnology center with around 7200 employees.

On Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone, he presented excerpts to over 300 employees.

Among them were oddities.

For example, in the 1960s, Boehringer Mannheim described Tutzing as an "idyllic village" that "lives on fishing and tourism".

Or that Roche spoke of “Penzburg” in an international presentation in the 1990s.

"Mannheimering" and "Horror Penzbergis"

Penzberg was initially a branch of the Tutzinger Boehringer site that focused on production, said Erker.

At that time there were also tensions between Penzberg, Tutzing and Mannheim.

Words like "Vermannheimerung" because of the specifications from the company headquarters and "Horror Penzbergis" have been handed down.

The relationship between Tutzing and Penzberg was also problematic. From Tutzing's point of view, the Penzbergers were down-to-earth producers, but always flaunted new buildings.

1989 McKinsey came to Penzberg - armored letter to Mannheim

The historian also reported that in 1989 management consultants from McKinsey came to Penzberg to improve organization and production.

"It was very fashionable," says Erker.

But that led to plant manager Gotthilf Naher writing a letter to Mannheim in armor.

At that time he succeeded in changing the McKinsey order into a strategy study on the consequences of growth.

According to Erker, the reaction at the plant itself was witty, taking the craze for abbreviations common in the industry to extremes: "PROBE" meant, for example, "Penzberg reorganization finally sacrifices biotechnology".

Explosive situation during the genetic engineering debate

In the 1990s, the genetic engineering debate affected the plant.

The situation was explosive, Erker said.

Plant manager Naher saw the plant as endangered, especially since other companies were moving their locations abroad.

The state parliament Greens demanded the closure.

An anecdote: A director wanted to shoot in the factory for the film adaptation of the anti-genetic engineering novel "With the Clowns came the tears" by Johannes Mario Simmel - Naher refused.

Roche gets “a jewel” with its Penzberger factory

The historian described the takeover by Roche as a stroke of luck for Penzberg.

At Boehringer, which describes itself as a family business, there was a tough business policy, power struggles and bureaucracy.

And for Roche, Penzberg was “a jewel” that put the group on the offensive strategically.

Erker presented a quote from company boss Franz B. Humer from 2007: If there are serious problems with production in the USA, people are sent from Penzberg.

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The old porter's house from the mining days still stands in the factory.

Historian Erker appealed for it to be preserved and used for a permanent exhibition.

© Wolfgang Schorner

Erker described the relationship between the city of Penzberg and the factory as complex.

The fear of a monoculture lives on from the mining days.

The criticism of problems with the housing market - caused by the growth of the company - already existed in the 1990s.

Speaking of the mine: Erker also combined his lecture with an appeal: "Keep the gatehouse as the last link to the mine." He suggested that a permanent exhibition on the history of the site should be shown in the gatehouse of the former mine, which is on the site.