History

The roots of the Carl Friederichs GmbH

Friederichs darf auf eine beeindruckende Geschichte zurückblicken, die in der Branche des Karosserie- und Fahrzeugbaus ihresgleichen sucht, denn die Firma besteht schon seit 184 Jahren.

The company which was established by Heinrich Ludwig Friederichs in Frankfurt on the Main on the 1st July 1840, now belongs to the leading and most famous body construction enterprises in Germany.

After Heinrich Ludwig Friederichs finished his apprenticeship, he stayed some years abroad to practise his profession as a carriage designer and saddler. Later he returned to his hometown to open his own company.

Everything started with the construction of magnificent carriages for rich businessmen and Russian princes. In 1876 Heinrich Ludwig's son Carl Friederichs took over the company and led it into the epoch of the motorised vehicles. Only 24 years later, Carl handed over the company to his two sons, Heinrich and Rudolf Friederichs. They turned their attention to the constrution of bodies for vehicles like Maybach, Benz, Packard and Horch. Heinrich Friederichs received the first patent for a cabriolet body.

In the Auto und Technik Museum in Sinsheim you can still view the oldest and roadworthy Maybach W5 whose body comes from Friederichs.

Auf der rechten Seite sehen Sie den Maybach W5 SG (zweites Bild), ein wahres Meisterstück – gebaut im Jahre 1928, ganze 3 Tonnen schwer, stolze 120 PS, 7 Liter Hubraum und eine Spitzengeschwindigkeit von 150 km/h

However, the times changed. Friederichs specialised in repair and construction of commercial vehicles. When the first company was destroyed by a fire, Friederichs used its new chances and opened a factory in the Gutleutstraße. In 1953 the company moved to the Hardenbergstraße in the west of Frankfurt. At that time, Heinz Friederichs, Rudolf's son joined the business.

In 1964 they decided to establish a second company in the east of Frankfurt (Schlitzer Straße). The 5000 m² premises offered a lot of room for new spacious workshops and were equipped with the latest technology, in order to be one step ahead to the latest trends.

It was in 1991, on Heinz Friederichs' day of death, when the "Heinz und Gisela Friedrichs Stiftung" (a trust) was founded. The trust became the sole partner of Carl Friederichs GmbH.

Friederichs Frankfurt develops; in 2004 a new big paint shop was opened, two years later additional halls for the production of armoured off-road vehicles were established.

The business grows continuously and meanwhile Friederichs occupies more than 100 employees in two different business divisions - repair/lacquering of accident vehicles and construction of special vehicles of all kinds.

Schon in der Vergangenheit zeichnete sich Friederichs durch flexibles Denken und souveränes Handeln aus und steht auch heute, nach 184 Jahren bewegter Geschichte, noch für Kontinuität und Seriosität.

Business card about 1850

Maybach W5 SG

Also in the interior a real gem

Die Carl Friederichs GmbH in der
Schlitzer Straße in den 1960 Jahren

Das Firmengelände Schlitzer Straße heute