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30-697: Olympia-Werke AG was an important German manufacturer of typewriters . Since the plant in Roffhausen  [ de ] near Wilhelmshaven was closed in 1991, only the brand name has survived. As typewriters became increasingly popular in Germany in the early 20th century, the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) in Berlin commissioned Friedrich von Hefner-Alteneck , an electrical engineer , to develop such

60-814: A cooperative ) are called Anteile (parts-of) rather than Aktien . In Germany and Austria, the legal basis of the AG is the German Aktiengesetz (abbr. AktG; "shares law") or the Austrian Aktiengesetz (abbr. AktG). Since the German commercial law (§ 19 Handelsgesetzbuch ) requires all corporations to specify their legal form in their name, in order to inform the public of the limits on their liability , all German (required by § 4 Aktiengesetz ) and Austrian stock corporations include Aktiengesellschaft or AG as part of their name, frequently as

90-538: A stock market . The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (where it is equivalent to a société anonyme or a società per azioni ) and South Tyrol for companies incorporated there. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent term is public limited company , and in the United States, while the terms " incorporated " or "corporation" are typically used, technically the more precise equivalent term

120-571: A device. Hefner-Alteneck then designed the Mignon, an inexpensive pointer typewriter that was not only affordable for larger companies, but also for craftsmen and private individuals. On 15 August 1903, Olympia-Werke was founded as the Union Schreibmaschinen-Gesellschaft m.b.H. to sell the Mignon. Beginning in 1930, the company traded as Europa Schreibmaschinen AG ( transl. Europa Typewriters AG); internationally,

150-418: A few Plus X awards in 2019 for the company's customer service and its Secure AS 302 alarm system. Aktiengesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft ( German pronunciation: [ˈaktsi̯ənɡəˌzɛlʃaft] ; abbreviated AG , pronounced [aːˈgeː] ) is a German word for a corporation limited by share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders ) whose shares may be traded on

180-793: A new owner on 1 May 1993 in the form of Elcosa AG in Schaffhausen . Olympia Office Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH—along with its global sales network, its production facility in Mexico City, and the Olympia trademark which it owned—was taken over by the Hong Kong branch of Elitegroup Computer Systems on 1 July 1994; it continued as Olympia International Holdings Ltd, based in Road Town in the British Virgin Islands . As in

210-796: A suffix. In Switzerland, the Company Limited by Shares ( Aktiengesellschaft in German , société anonyme in French , società anonima in Italian , societad anonima in Romansh ) is defined in Title Twenty-Six of the Code of Obligations , Article 620. Article 950 specifies that the business name must indicate the legal form. German AGs have a "two-tiered board" structure, consisting of

240-471: A supervisory board ( Aufsichtsrat ) and a management board ( Vorstand ). The supervisory board is generally controlled by shareholders, although employees may have seats, depending on the size of the company. The management board directly runs the company, but its members may be removed by the supervisory board, which also determines the management board's compensation. Some German AGs have management boards which determine their own remuneration, but that situation

270-458: Is " joint-stock company ." The German word Aktiengesellschaft is a compound noun made up of two elements: Aktien meaning an acting part or share , and Gesellschaft , meaning company or society. English translations include share company , or company limited by shares , or joint-stock company . In German, the use of the term Aktien for shares is restricted to Aktiengesellschaften . Shares in other types of German companies (e.g., GmbH or

300-523: Is now relatively uncommon. The general meeting is the supreme governing body of a Swiss company limited by shares. It elects the board of directors ( Verwaltungsrat in German ) and the external auditors. The board of directors may appoint and dismiss persons entrusted with managing and representing the company. The equivalent terms in other countries include the following, which mostly mean literally either "share company/society" or "anonymous company/society". Leer (district) In 1744, East Frisia

330-746: The East Frisian Islands , is also a part of the District. Some of the area of the District is in the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park . The coat-of-arms is identical to the arms of the East Frisian chieftain dynasty Ukena , rulers of the area during the 15th century. Its blazon is: "Arms: Azure, a lion rampant dexter-facing Argent armed and langued Gules, collared by a wreath of leaves proper. Crown: two plumes of wheat Vert divided by

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360-787: The International Court of Justice in The Hague had to judge whether the West or East German companies had the right to trade under the "Olympia" name. The court ultimately ruled in favor of the Wilhelmshaven ;company. The Erfurt plant then called itself Optima Büromaschinenwerk Erfurt  [ de ] and branded its products under the "Optima" name. Orbis Schreibmaschinen-Werke changed its name to Olympia-Werke West GmbH beginning in 1950; and in June 1954,

390-563: The Wirtschaftswunder . In 1957, Olympia-Werke took majority stake in the adding machine and cash register maker Brunsviga Maschinenwerke  [ de ] in Braunschweig . Two years later, Olympia-Werke acquired Brunsviga Maschinenwerke in its entirety. The manufacturing of Olympia cash registers was then relocated to Braunschweig. Focus turned to the development and manufacture of four-function adding machines, with

420-865: The Brunsviga name kept alive for these machines. In 1959, Roffhausen began production of electric typewriters , starting with the SGE models. In 1961, every second typewriter produced in Germany came from Olympia. In 1962, AEG acquired further shares in Olympia-Werke and had come to own the entire share capital of Olympia-Werke, amounting to DM 55 million. In 1969, Olympia-Werke acquired typewriter maker Alpina Büromaschinen in Kaufbeuren . Three new production lines were built in Roffhausen , following an investment of around DM 10 million. By this point, Olympia had expanded production internationally: in addition to

450-774: The case of RCA , today the Olympia brand survives in name only. In Germany, the trademark is owned by the entrepreneur Heinz Prygoda. As of 2022, Olympia International Holdings Ltd and Prygodas Olympia Business Systems Vertriebs GmbH also stock products under the Olympia name. At the beginning of 2019, Olympia Business Systems Vertriebs GmbH merged with the Wiesbaden -based office supplies wholesaler Genie GmbH & Co. KG (formerly Dieter Gerth GmbH), to form GO Europe GmbH, based in Hattingen . Olympia's website at https://www.olympia-vertrieb.de/ appears to be operational and working, with numerous products advertised, as well as it receiving

480-735: The company finally changed its name to Olympia-Werke AG. Olympia-Werke's profit and the workforce increased throughout the 1950s. In 1957, the company had a workforce of 12,000 employees. Factories and offices were raised throughout northwest Germany, acting as parts suppliers and supportive assembly lines for the main manufacturing facilities in the Roffhausen factory. In 1957 a new plant was built in Leer district (east of Friesland ), which employed up to 2,500 people. Specialized portable typewriters were manufactured in this factory. Acquisitions provided another avenue for Olympia-Werke's expansion during

510-530: The end of 1945, the board of directors of Bielefeld Schreibmaschinen, while looking for more suitable production facilities and more qualified workers, came across the former naval equipment warehouse of the Kriegsmarine in Roffhausen  [ de ] . On 1 October 1946, the government of West Germany granted Bielefelder Schreibmaschinen a production permit. In its first year, the company's workforce consisted of 28 employees. Under difficult conditions,

540-591: The end of the 1950s, office equipment manufacturing had become the third most profitable branch of industry among those who participated at the Hanover Fair , one of the world's largest trade fairs . Olympia was the largest exhibitor at the first CeBIT in 1970; there, they displayed the Olympia Multiplex 80  [ de ] mainframe computer . Manufacture of the first unit of the Multiplex 80

570-627: The establishment of new companies on TCN. The concept received support from the Lower Saxony government, union representatives, parent company Daimler-Benz, the district of Friesland, the city of Schortens . In the beginning of 1993, TCN had 14 companies with around 750 employees. In 2012, the newly formed Naval Support Command ( Marineunterstützungskommando ) moved into TCN's former premises. Parts of AEG Olympia AG were turned into smaller, leaner companies. The first, Olympia Office Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH ( transl. Olympia Office Sales Company)

600-509: The market. To gain market share, Olympia-Werke formed a joint venture with Matsushita (Panasonic) of Japan to manufacture Olympia calculators. Other components such as copiers were purchased from Agfa , among others. The slow but steady demise of traditional office equipment in favor of smaller minicomputers signaled the end of Olympia-Werke AG. AEG, which had been acquired by Daimler , was unable to provide any decisive innovative impetus. Olympia-Werke's financial health continued to worsen in

630-470: The mid-1960s, Olympia began manufacturing electronic calculators in addition to mechanical adding machines; these calculators displayed digits using Nixie tubes . By the end of the 1960s, however, these machine—fitted with hundreds of transistors and diodes —were already too heavy and too expensive for the average consumer, who were taking a preference to the Japanese -built calculators that were hitting

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660-549: The mid-1980s. After a string of losses, AEG and Daimler-Benz decided in December 1991 to withdraw from the office equipment industry and to close the location with its workforce of around 3,600 employees. Under the motto "Olympia—the heart of the region must live on", a nationwide strike by Olympia employees to keep their jobs ensued, lasting for several months. With campaigns in Wilhelmshaven, Frankfurt , and Stuttgart ,

690-538: The plants in Roffhausen, Braunschweig, Leer, Norden, and Kaufbeuren, Olympia-Werke had production facilities in Belfast , Mexico City , Santiago , and Toronto . The total workforce peak at 20,000 employees in the beginning of 1969. Olympia was not only the number one German office equipment manufacturer; it was also one of the three largest office manufacturers in the world. The inaugural CeBIT computer expo in 1970 marked another milestone in Olympia-Werke's history. By

720-484: The production of typebar -based typewriters began, and soon after, amid high demand during the beginning of the West German economic miracle ( Wirtschaftswunder ), the company reached profitability. At the end of 1947, Bielefelder Schreibmaschinen changed its name to Orbis Schreibmaschinen-Werke ( transl. Orbis Typewriter Works). The popular SM series of typewriters were introduced the following year. In 1949,

750-603: The products were sold under the trademark Olympia . The last "Mignon" from 1933 was called the Olympia-Plurotyp. On 31 December 1936, the company's name was changed to Olympia Büromaschinenwerke AG ( transl. Olympia Office Machine Works). During World War II , the company produced a model of Enigma cipher machine . For reasons of secrecy, the Olympia-built machines bore no branding. Olympia's plant in Erfurt

780-584: The responsibility of the Daimler-Benz group was reminded and public pressure was built up to create alternative jobs in the Wilhelmshaven–Friesland region. Despite this, the Roffhausen factory was ultimately shuttered in 1992. As a positive result of the labor dispute, Technologie-Centrum Nordwest (TCN; transl. Technology Center Northwest) was formed, which oversaw the spin-off and continuation of divisions of Olympia as independent companies and

810-581: Was annexed by Prussia . In 1867, the region was subdivided into districts, and the districts of Leer and Weener were established. In 1932, these two districts were merged. The District is located in the southern part of East Frisia . The Ems River runs through the District, coming out of the Emsland in the south and flowing into the Dollart , a bay of the North Sea . The island of Borkum , belonging to

840-568: Was completed in 1969 for the Deutsche Bank in Hamburg . By 1976, seventy Multiplex 80s were installed in Germany, with a combined value of more than DE 10 million (equivalent to $ 19,243,659 in 2021). Distribution of these mainframes were handled by two different companies: Olympia delivered Multiplex 80s to financial institutions; while KME Group handled distribution for the commercial sectors (the computer's predominate use case). From

870-444: Was established to lease and sell office machines (in practice, machines were mostly sold). Another, OSG Office Service GmbH offered brand-independent service contracts for all office machines on the market. Lastly, a holding company was established to lease factory real estate and production capital. It was not long before AEG Group sold off OSG Office Service GmbH and Olympia Office Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH. OSG Office Service GmbH found

900-758: Was severely damaged by U.S. artillery fire from 11 to 13 April 1945. After Erfurt was handed over to the Soviet occupying forces on 3 June 1945, the remaining operating facilities were nationalized , producing typewriters as VEB Optima Büromaschinenwerke. Olympia's factory in Wilhelmshaven came into being after World War II, when employees of the Erfurt factory fled to West Germany with their design documents and founded Bielefelder Schreibmaschinen Werke ( transl. Bielefeld Typewriter Works) in Bielefeld . At

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