Acquisition of the company “Förderanlagen Calbe GmbH” in Saxony-Anhalt – Further development of location to create a state-of-the-art production facility – 1995: Change of name to “Doppstadt Calbe GMBH”

“All of the sudden, we were a very large company,” says Hedwig Doppstadt discussing the challenge of having 200 extra employees overnight.

International demand encouraged Doppstadt to expand. After Germany's reunification, the company bought the conveyor manufacturing plant in Calbe an der Saale, which is located in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The underlying activity pursued by the eastern German system manufacturer was not new to Doppstadt: For instance, Doppstadt’s belt drums operate, among other things, one of the longest conveyor belts in the world, which is located in the Chilean Atacama Desert. In this context, the Calbe plant posed a good addition to the company’s product range.

The 200 extra employees were very welcome too. Every person who wanted could stay. “All of the sudden, we were a very large company,” says Hedwig Doppstadt recalling “the decision that was the most challenging one for them” in the history of Doppstadt. “We did not only take over the property and the buildings but the existing employees as well. All of the sudden, we had assumed responsibility for many new employees.

The decision to keep all of the company’s employees laid the foundation for the relationship between the staff and the company’s management to this day. “Doppstadt is family for me,” explains Bernd Lichtenfeld, a factory mechanic and maintenance technician at the company. “The Doppstadts introduced themselves and everything, that had been uncertain before, had now become certain again.” Doppstadt had transformed Calbe into an ultra-modern production and assembly plant, developing a brand-new line of machines and readying them to production release with the expertise of Calbe’s staff. In 1995, the former Förderanlage company was renamed to “Doppstadt Calbe GmbH”: “Finally!” as Reimund Hoffmann, Senior Production Manager recalls. He spent his entire career working in the factory. “We noticed very quickly that the family was really committed to the location. At some point, every employee wanted to wear the ‘Doppstadt’ logo. That said, the name change definitely took too long for some employees. Like their colleagues in Velbert, they also wanted to have the Doppstadt logo on their work clothes: A sign confirming that they are a part of our company.”