History
After the death of Emil Kessler in 1867 his 26-year old son, Emil Kessler, took over the factory. He ran it until his death in 1895. From 1907 another Kessler took the helm of the engineering works: Emil Kessler's youngest son, Ludwig Kessler.
The one thousandth locomotive delivered in 1870 was given the name KESSLER to commemorate the founder of the factory. The engineering works worked closely with the Royal Württemberg State Railways so that almost all new engines for the railway company were built at Esslingen.
The firm earned a very good reputation, initially at home, then increasingly abroad. Several takeovers of other companies (Maschinenfabrik Gebr. Decker & Co. in 1881, Maschinen- & Kesselfabrik G. Kuhn in 1902), the formation of Costruzioni Meccaniche Saronno (Italy) in 1887 and in 1913 the construction of a new factory at Mettingen demonstrated its success. One phase was the construction of ships for inland waters at Ulm and Friedrichshafen, begun in 1852 and stopped by 1858, that saw it through the time of economic crisis after 1848. 50 boats for the river Danube, two steamships for the river Neckar, two steamers and two tugs for Lake Constance and were the result of this thoroughly successful venture. Longer-lived was the firms involvement in steel structures and bridging, that it continued with until the end.
By the 1960s Maschinenfabrik Esslingen had delivered several thousand steam and diesel locomotives worldwide, including numerous special designs. It had a particular reputation for the construction of cog locomotives in many variations, including locomotives for Riggenbach, Abt and Strub rack railways. It was one of these engines that was the last steam locomotive to be made in Esslingen: on 21 October 1966 the last cog locomotive left the factory bound for Indonesia.
The company was also involved in the production of electric locomotives, for example, in 1912 for the Wendelsteinbahn. After 1920 a batch of accumulator cars was produced, mainly for coal mines and industrial railways.
In addition, internal combustion engined locomotives were built, such as the small diesel locomotive, the Köf, and the Esslingen railbus.
Between 1956 and 1965, over 350 Class SSB GT4 trams were built in Esslingen for the Stuttgart tramways, which were still in operation at the end of 2007. Even the cable car vehicles in Stuttgart were made at Esslingen.
Read more about this topic: Maschinenfabrik Esslingen
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“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)