which was built by Philipp Holzmann
Early years The company was founded in 1849 by Johann Philipp Holzmann (1805-1870) at Sprendlingen in present-day
Dreieich near Frankfurt am Main as Philipp Holzmann & Cie. Initially, the former
sawmill company was concentrating on the supply of ties for railway construction, but then began to expand into building construction and civil engineering. In 1856, the headquarters moved to Frankfurt where in the late 19th century the company experienced rapid growth. The first large building contract to be finished was the
opera house completed in 1880, followed by the
central station in Frankfurt am Main completed in 1888 the
Hamburg city hall completed in 1897 and several railway projects in East Africa and Asia, especially the
Bagdadbahn built from 1903 which incorporates the
Istanbul Haydarpaşa railway station finished in 1908, as well as the
Varda Viaduct at
Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey completed in 1916. In 1917, Philipp Holzmann & Cie merged with the Internationale Baugesellschaft and became the publicly traded
Philipp Holzmann Aktiengesellschaft. In 1938, the company had 20,800 employees and contributed to several major building projects like the new
Reich Chancellery in Berlin, the
Nazi party rally grounds in Nürnberg, the
Prora complex as well as the
Westwall and numerous sections of the
Reichsautobahn. In World War II, Holzmann constructed large parts of the
Atlantic Wall by order of the
Organisation Todt.
Post-war years In the post-war period, the company soon recovered with the rebuilding of Frankfurt, the
airport and several public infrastructure projects. Post-war projects included the
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge in Venezuela completed in 1962, the
AfE-Turm in Frankfurt completed in 1972, the
Westend Gate in Frankfurt completed in 1976, the
Eurotower in Frankfurt completed in 1977 and the
Silberturm in Frankfurt completed in 1978. These projects enabled Holzmann to expand into the United States and in 1979 it acquired
J.A. Jones Construction, a major US contractor. More recent major projects involving Holzmann included the
Frankfurter Büro Center in Frankfurt completed in 1980, the
Eurotheum in Frankfurt completed in 1999, the
Main Tower in Frankfurt completed in 2000, the
Trianon in Frankfurt completed in 2003 and the
Western Scheldt Tunnel in the
Netherlands also completed in 2003.
Decline At its peak in 1994, the company had 43,000 employees and was with a revenue of 13.1 billion
DM the largest German construction company. Despite public efforts for a recapitalization, the company filed for insolvency in 1999 and was finally liquidated in 2002. ==References==