Sennebogen founder dies at 79

Erich Sennebogen, founder of crane and excavator manufacturer Sennebogen, died on 21 March aged 79.

At the age of 21 Sennebogen founded his company for building agricultural utility machines near Straubing in Bavaria, Germany. In 1953 there were 13 employees. In 1957 Sennebogen developed the mechanical rope excavator for the construction industry.

The Sennebogen Group is now active worldwide with offices in Straubing and Wackersdorf in Germany, Hungary, the USA, Dubai, Singapore and Russia. Turnover is around €300 million (US$ 425 million) and there are 1,000 employees. Sennebogen designs, develops and produces cranes, rope excavators, carrier equipment, material handling machines, special purpose machines up to 300 tonnes and steel components.

"The future belongs to designers, not managers," was Sennebogen's motivation for rolling up his sleeves.

Sennebogen held the view that, "The economy is not everything - but without it, almost everything is nothing." Driven by the idea that "there's no such thing as can't," the mechanical engineer was able to develop from a modest beginning into a global company that has become internationally recognised for quality cranes and excavators.

For his commitment and contribution to medium-sized companies and to trade, Erich Sennebogen received honours, including: the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, First Class; Bearer of the Bavarian Order of Merit; and Gold Citizen's Medal of his home town Straubing. On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Sennebogen stated that Germany needed founders, creators and designers to win the future in a globalised world.