Grundig

Tagline: far a good reason

And there is a home-based dentist Rudik -
He has a Grundig receiver,
He twists it at night -
Catch, contra, Germany.

V. Vysotsky. "Letter to the Editor"

One of the oldest German manufacturers of consumer electronics began its activities in a difficult year for the whole of Europe in 1945. World War II had just died down, the economies of countries had not yet fully recovered, but the need for consumer electronics was already felt quite acutely.

The founder of the company, Max Grundig, was no longer a newcomer to the business. In 1930 he was one of the founders of the company Furth, Grundig & Wurzer, whose main activity was the production of transformers for radio receivers. It was located in the city of Fürth, where the headquarters was later located. Grundig. Grundig willingly accepted the new power in the person of Adolf Hitler. During the war, the company was engaged in the production of transformers for the needs of the army. Not only Germans worked at the plant, but also prisoners of war (a figure of 150 people is called). However, the fact that such a labor force was used after the end of the war did not affect the fate of Grunding in any way - the winners took into account the fact that the prisoners at his factories were not only kept in good conditions, but even paid wages.

After the war, Grunding had a desire to make radios. But this was insanely difficult to do, as the Allies dictated the terms, according to which, the production of radios was heavily taxed and it was unprofitable to produce them. I had to deal exclusively with repairs, the demand for which was very high. But the cunning German found a loophole. He began to produce radios, which were called Heinzelmann ("Brownie"). The originality lay in the fact that they were produced in the form of a designer, which even a person far from electronics could assemble. Thus, the device was positioned as a toy and taxes on it were ridiculous. This allowed not only to survive in difficult years, but even to rise. In 1947, the company was officially registered Grundig GmbH. And in 1949, the company's first portable receiver, the Grundig Boy, appeared. The economy was already recovering by that time, so these devices became real hits.

Grundig Boy (1949)

became famous Grundig also by the fact that in 1952 the first television set in Germany was released. The sixties and seventies were the golden era of the company (in 1972 it changed its name to Grundig AG), which was respected and known in many countries of the world, including the USSR. However, in the eighties, serious problems began - the market was literally littered with cheap Asian products. Yielding to German technology in all characteristics, it was distinguished by a very low price, which ensured its high popularity. Sales Grundig started to fall. Max continued to act, placing the main emphasis on quality, which invariably affected the price. Sales dropped rapidly. In 1993 Grundig AG was taken over by the Dutch Philips.

In 1998 the Dutch resold Grundig a consortium of Bavarian banks and several electronics companies. However, all attempts to save the legendary company were unsuccessful - in 2001 Grundig was declared bankrupt.

Grundig Fine Arts LED 55 S

Since 2004 Grundig owned by Turkish Beko (in turn owned by the company Arcelik ASincluded in the holding Koc Group) and English Alba. The latter sold its share to the Turks in 2007, although it retained the right to use the brand. By the way, some other companies also own the right to use this brand.

To date, Grundig wholly owned Arcelikthat set up the factories Grundig Elektronik AS Technics Grundig still belongs to the class of elite equipment. However, this brand is no longer as popular as it used to be.