Aufsätze (Articles)

Ralf Banken, «Was es im Kapitalismus gibt, gibt es im Warenhaus». Die Entwicklung der Warenhäuser in der Bundesrepublik, S. 3-30.

Miriam Gassner, Lokale Umwelt oder transnationale Chance? ENIs Reaktion auf die Proteste gegen die CEL-Pipeline in den 1960er Jahren, S. 31-46.

Valerio Varini, A New Brand for a New Consumer. The international success of Campari from its origin to the 1930s, S. 47-69.

Toni Pierenkemper, „Moderne“ Unternehmensgeschichte auf vertrauten (Irr-)Wegen? S. 70-85.

ABSTRACTS

Ralf Banken
«Was es im Kapitalismus gibt, gibt es im Warenhaus». Die Entwicklung der Warenhäuser in der Bundesrepublik
The development of the West German department stores after 1949 started off successfully. Indeed until 1973/4 department stores held a market share of more than ten percent of total retail turnover in Germany, a share greater than that for department store chains anywhere else in Europe. Since then their share is decreasing steadily, reaching 3.9% by 1994. From 1980 to the present day, decreasing market share was accompanied by only indifferently rising or stagnant gains in turnover from 1980 to the present day. Moreover, this development was accompanied by considerable concentration, so that eventually only four, and in the end only two, major department store corporations were left. This article focuses primarily on the causes of this decline and identifies a number of them by using quantitative data as well several qualitative examples. One of the most important reasons for the decline was the emergence of new types of retail stores, all of which pursued aggressive price strategies. In addition, high costs of department stores due to location and personnel requirements also constituted an important factor in decline as well as mismanagement in numerous cases. But most importantly, the decision of most department store companies to adhere to their traditional strategy of offering a complete range of consumer goods under one roof was the fundamental cause of decline. Beginning in the 1980s, there was a gradual strategic reorientation characterised by the replacement of traditional mentalities focused on turnover by a stress on profit and other measures of performance. This, however, did not help in enabling department stores from regaining lost market share; it only prevented them from losing even more than they did.

Miriam Gassner
Lokale Umwelt oder transnationale Chance? ENIs Reaktion auf die Proteste gegen die CEL-Pipeline in den 1960er Jahren
In the 60s environmental politics gathered momentum in various consumers and consciousness grew as well. A first prominent expression of the new perception was «The limits of growth» published by the Club of Rome in 1972. The oil crisis of 1973 intensified the awareness of declining growth and growing ecologic sensitivity. But it was not just politics and public opinion which were affected by the new ecologic movements throughout Europe. Companies had to deal with rising costs to meet new environmental laws as well. The importance of amalgamating environmental and business history has been emphasized by some scholars, and European and American research shows some approaches to linking environmental and business history. This article will connect both using the example for environmental protest around the Lake Constance in the 1960s when the Italian state-owned company ENI planned to build the Central European Pipeline from Genoa to Ingolstadt in Southern Germany. The construction has been delayed several times owing to effective protests from German communities which feared the pollution of drinking water.

Valerio Varini
A New Brand for a New Consumer. The international success of Campari from its origin to the 1930s
The case of the drinks company Campari allows detailed analysis and greater understanding of the role of branding in the success of a business, and it also demonstrates how its success was the result of the interaction between producer and consumer. The importance of the commercial network is also highlighted, in particular its ability to perform the delicate but essential task of acting as an interface between the producer and the market. The original and innovative advertising promoted by Davide Campri played a major role in the creation of this interface. The case also demonstrates that trademark legislation did not always yield the results the company hoped for. Only robust defense of the market through a variety of means managed to overcome legislative limitations and allowed the company to consolidate the success it had achieved.

Buchbesprechungen

Christian Kleinschmidt, Konsumgesellschaft
Wolfgang König, Kleine Geschichte der Konsumgesellschaft. Konsum als Lebensform der Moderne
Heinz-Gerhard Haupt/Claudius Torp (Hrsg.), Die Konsumgesellschaft in Deutschland 1890-1990. Ein Handbuch (Thomas Welskopp)

Neil Coe/Neil Wrigley (Hrsg.), The Globalization of Retailing (Berti Kolbow)

Yavuz Köse, Westlicher Konsum am Bosporus. Warenhäuser, Nestlé & Co im späten Osmanischen Reich (1855-1923) (Meral Avci)

Vera Hierholzer, Nahrung nach Norm. Regulierung von Nahrungsmittelqualität in der Industrialisierung 1871-1914 (Christian Henrich-Franke)

Gerd Hardach, Der Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammertag 1861-2011. Der Spitzenverband der Industrie- und Handelskammern im Wandel der Zeit (Werner Bührer)

Bertelsmann AG, 175 Jahre Bertelsmann. Eine Zukunftsgeschichte (Alexander Moutchnik)

Aktiengesellschaft der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Hg.), 325 Jahre Dillinger Hütte 1685-2010: Chronik. Menschen. Technik (3 Bde.) (Veit Damm)

Barbara Eggenkämper/Gerd Modert/Stefan Pretzlik, Die Staatliche Versicherung der DDR. Von der Gründung bis zur Integration in die Allianz (Adrian Jitschin)

Charles Barthel/Josée Kirps, Terres rouges. Histoire de la sidérurgie luxembourgeoise. Bd. I und 2 (Veit Damm/Esther Spicker)

Manfred Rasch (Hg.), August Thyssen und Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. Briefe einer Industriellenfamilie 1919-1926 (Werner Bührer)

Silke Fengler, Entwickelt und fixiert. Zur Unternehmens- und Technikgeschichte der deutschen Fotoindustrie, dargestellt am Beispiel der Agfa AG Leverkusen und des VEB Filmfabrik Wolfen (1945-1995)
Gerhard Jehmlich, Der VEB Pentacon Dresden. Geschichte der Dresdner Kamera- und Kinoindustrie nach 1945 (Eckart Schremmer)

Michael Epkenhans/Ralf Stremmel (Hrsg.), Friedrich Alfred Krupp. Ein Unternehmer im Kaiserreich (Peter M. Quadflieg)

Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (Hg.), Wer, wenn nicht wir – Else Kröner – Unternehmerin und Stifterin (Dorothea Schmidt)

Claudia Nieke, Volkswagen am Kap. Internationalisierung und Netzwerk in Südafrika 1950-1966 (Christian Marx)

Michael Berg, Die Motorschifffahrt auf dem Bodensee unter der Deutschen Reichsbahn und in der Nachkriegszeit. Planung, Bau und Einsatz der Weißen Flotte 1920 bis 1952 (Hartmut Knittel)

Timo Luks, Der Betrieb als Ort der Moderne. Zur Geschichte von Industriearbeit, Ordnungsdenken und Social Engineering im 20. Jahrhundert (Claudia Schütze)

Christopher Neumaier, Dieselautos in Deutschland und den USA. Zum Verhältnis von Technologie, Konsum und Politik, 1949-2005 (Christiane Katz)

Hand-Ulrich Schiedt/Laurent Tissot/Christoph Maria Merki/Rainer C. Schwings (Hrsg.), Verkehrsgeschichte – Histoire des transport (Christian Henrich-Franke)

Susanne Hilger/Achim Landwehr (Hrsg.), Wirtschaft – Kultur – Geschichte. Positionen und Perspektiven (Tobias Riedl)

Dieter Stiefel (Hg.), Der „Ostfaktor“. Die österreichische Wirtschaft 1989-2009 (Peter Borscheid)

Katherine Carté Engel, Religion und Profit. Moravians in Early America (Swen Steinberg)

Siegfried Jaschinski, Das deutsche Finanz-System. Achillesferse der Wirtschaft? (Christopher Kopper)