Robert Bosch

Robert Bosch was a liberal democrat who, as a citizen and philanthropist, took up the social challenges of his time. His engagement was multifaceted. He was among the first in Germany to introduce the eight-hour workday for employees. He promoted educational opportunities for the general public. And he was politically engaged in support of Franco-German reconciliation and against anti-Semitism.

Biography

The eleventh of twelve children, Robert Bosch was born on September 23, 1861, in Albeck near Ulm in the Swabian Alps. As a company founder, Bosch was not just a businessman, he also wanted to contribute to the community as a citizen and benefactor. Robert Bosch died on March 12, 1942, and was buried in Stuttgart's Waldfriedhof cemetery.

The company's history

From the beginnings to globalization:

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The entrepreneur

After his apprenticeship as a precision mechanic, Robert Bosch worked for various companies, both in Germany and abroad. The Bosch Group, which is long since a global player, got its start on November 15, 1886, when Robert Bosch opened his "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering" in Stuttgart.

One year later, Bosch built the first low-voltage magneto ignition device for internal combustion engines. This device set in motion the meteoric rise of his company. As the world became motorized, the business grew rapidly. Power tools and ignitions were at the core of the company from the start. But Robert Bosch was also quick to respond to the evolution of diesel engines, which did not require a magneto ignition device. In 1927, the diesel injection pump went into series production at Bosch.

Even before the turn of the century, Bosch was expanding business abroad, first to the UK in 1898 and then to other European countries. By 1913, the company had subsidiaries in the US, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and 88 percent of its sales were outside of Germany.
From the beginning, Bosch was particularly concerned with the training and development of his employees. Deeply aware of his social responsibility, the entrepreneur was one of the first in Germany to introduce an eight-hour workday as early as 1906. Further exemplary social benefits for employees followed.
In 1937, Robert Bosch converted the stock corporation into a limited liability company (GmbH). This aimed to prevent outside influence on the company and to preserve its independence.

Robert Bosch and employees — "I was always plagued by fears that someone would check my products and prove that I had made something of inferior quality. That is why I have always sought to only release work that has passed all objective tests, in other words, that is crème-de-la-crème." (Robert Bosch, 1918, Principles)

The liberal democrat

Robert Bosch always concerned himself with the health and well-being of his employees. This was not only in keeping with his humanist worldview, but also with his conviction that employee satisfaction and well-being are good for a company's performance.
From early on, Bosch used the company's growing profits to foster social responsibility.
He donated most of the profits earned in the armaments business during the First World War to charitable causes. At the end of the war, he chose to play an active role in building Germany's first democracy. He supported the "German League for the League of Nations" and became a founding member of the "League for the Renewal of the Reich," which aimed to stabilize the republic on the basis of the Weimar constitution.
At the center of his European political commitment was Franco-German reconciliation, which he promoted in many ways, both financially and though personal initiatives.
Bosch saw reconciliation with France as the key to lasting peace in Europe.

Robert Bosch was critical of the National Socialist regime. He supported the resistance against Hitler and helped those of the Jewish faith who were persecuted by hiring them or donating money so they could emigrate. Carl Goerdeler, who had been given a consulting contract by Bosch since 1937, established contact with the German resistance through him and the "Bosch Circle." After the start of World War II, Goerdeler became an influential member of the resistance and was set to become chancellor had the assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944, succeeded. As everywhere in the country, however, employees at Bosch who were called up to serve in the war were replaced by forced laborers from occupied territories.

Robert Bosch the liberal Democrat — "Anyone who seeks his way in life with integrity and always remains true to his conscience deserves our respect, whether he be with us or against us." (quoted in: “Sei Mensch und ehre Menschenwürde”, Aufsätze, Reden und Gedanken von Robert Bosch, 1950)

The committed citizen and benefactor

In 1910, Robert Bosch's donation of one million marks to the Technical University of Stuttgart marked the beginning of "his utterly incomparable patronage,” as Theodor Heuss, who later became the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, wrote in his 1946 biography "Robert Bosch – Life and Achievements.”

As with the business activities of his company, Robert Bosch's foundations, donations, and other public activities were intended to help improve the living conditions of his time and to shape society and the state. His support aimed to enable students and others to use their skills to respond to current challenges. Regarding the state, his aim was to kindle the initiative of others, not to step into their shoes.

He himself wanted neither honor nor fame for his philanthropic actions. The focus for Robert Bosch was on practical support, motivated by his sense of civic duty to "make a growing fortune beneficial for public welfare in the broadest sense."

Company and Foundation: A twofold legacy

Robert Bosch and politics

Learn more about Robert Bosch's work and social engagement between 1920 and 1941.

Read the article "Liberal politics and social responsibility - Robert Bosch and politics"

The most important foundations and endowments

Robert Bosch donates 1 million marks to Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences.

Robert Bosch donates 100,000 marks to the city of Stuttgart for World War I relief. Bosch sets up "Kriegshilfe von Handel und Industrie", a trade and industry-led war aid project with a fund of 300,000 marks and establishes a war hospital in Bosch factory buildings.

Robert Bosch founds "Homöopathisches Krankenhaus GmbH", a homeopathic hospital, with a donation of 400,000 marks. The "Schwäbische Siedlungsverein e.V.", a housing association, is awarded 1 million marks to create sanitary social housing.

Robert Bosch donates around 20 million marks for charitable purposes, including 13 million marks for the construction of the Neckar Canal. The interest from the Stiftung Neckarkanal, the foundation established for the project, is donated to the city of Stuttgart to alleviate social deprivation. An association for the advancement of gifted children receives 2 million marks, and the "Verein Homöopathisches Krankenhaus", a homeopathic hospital association, receives 2.4 million marks for the construction of a hospital.

The "Haus der Freundschaft" (House of Friendship) in Istanbul, Turkey, is built with the help of a donation from Robert Bosch. The "Hochschule für Politik", an educational project for a university of political science inspired by Friedrich Naumann, receives financial support.

Robert Bosch donates 300,000 marks to the "Deutsche Liga für den Völkerbund" (German Federation for the League of Nations) founded by Matthias Erzberger. Bosch contributes 50 percent of the funding to establish the "Verein zur Förderung der Volksbildung" (Association for the Advancement of Adult Education), which will later become the German adult education movement. Esslingen Mechanical Engineering College receives 250,000 marks for an extension, and the Arts and Crafts School is granted 80,000 marks for the award of scholarships.

From 1920 onwards, Robert Bosch introduces a range of social benefits for Bosch employees and their families.

Robert Bosch donates 200,000 marks to the "Zentralleitung für Wohltätigkeit" (Central Administration for Charitable Work) for emergency aid in Württemberg.

After the death of Karl E. Markel, Bosch grants an endowment to the foundation established in his name for the advancement of gifted children.

The "Robert Bosch Krankenhaus Stiftung", a hospital foundation, receives 5.5 million marks to build a homeopathic hospital in Stuttgart. The same year marks the start of support for Jewish charities through the "Walz-Hilfe" organization. Financial aid is also given to the "Deutsche Freiheits-, Widerstands- und Erneuerungsbewegung" (German Movement for Freedom, Resistance and Renewal). Bosch establishes the "Sonderkonto Forschungs- und Studienhilfe", a special fund providing financial support for research and education.

Between 1938 and 1940, Hans Walz donates substantial sums to Karl Adler of the "Jüdische Mittelstelle", an organization in Stuttgart that helps Jews emigrate from fascist Germany. The Bosch factories provide refuge to victims of racist and political persecution by the National Socialists.

On April 28, Robert Bosch officially opens the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus in Stuttgart.

Robert Bosch during the opening ceremony of the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhauses 1940 — Robert Bosch in the pharmacy of the hospital, on the right the pharmacist Mr. Meng.

Will and mandate

Robert Bosch died in Stuttgart on March 12, 1942, at the age of 80. He had previously made far-sighted arrangements for the continuation of his entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities.

Gründungsurkunde Robert Bosch Stiftung — "It is my intention, apart from the alleviation of all kinds of hardship, to promote the moral, physical and intellectual development of the people." This was Robert Bosch’s message to Vermögensverwaltung Bosch GmbH (VVB), the company he had founded in the course of drawing up his will in 1921.

"My intention is not only to alleviate all kinds of hardship, but above all to work toward raising the moral, health, and intellectual powers of the people," was how Bosch described his mandate to the trust administration company Vermögensverwaltung Bosch GmbH (VVB). Robert Bosch had founded this company as part of his will in 1921. The executors sought a lasting solution for the entrepreneurial, familial, and charitable concerns to which Robert Bosch had committed them in his will. Vermögensverwaltung Bosch acquired the company shares belonging to the estate and at the same time waived the associated voting rights, which were transferred to the newly founded Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG (Robert Bosch Industrial Equities) that held a 0.01 percent stake in Robert Bosch GmbH.

In 1969, Vermögensverwaltung Bosch changed its name to Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH. The heirs acted in the spirit of the founder, using the vast majority of the proceeds for their own charitable foundations, such as the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology (IKP), founded by Robert Bosch's daughter, or the Irmgard Bosch Education Center, founded by his daughter-in-law. In his guidelines, Robert Bosch had given examples of how his charitable intentions could be realized: "Health, education, support for the gifted, reconciliation of peoples, and the like..."

The statutes of the Robert Bosch Stiftung follow these ideas and continue to list public healthcare and the improvement of public education as core tasks. Other goals of the foundation are international understanding, public welfare, education and upbringing, art and culture, humanities, and social and natural sciences in research and teaching.

FAQs

The Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH holds around 94 percent of the shares in the Bosch company, Robert Bosch GmbH. The remaining shares are held by a Bosch family company and the Bosch company itself. As a non-profit organization, the Robert Bosch Stiftung does not have any business activities. It has transferred the voting rights of its shares to Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

The Robert Bosch Stiftung is an independent institution. It holds the majority of the shares in Robert Bosch GmbH and is financed by its dividends. Decisions on charitable activities and the use of the Foundation's funds are made by the Board of Trustees, whose members are also shareholders of the Foundation. In compliance with the wishes of Robert Bosch, the Board of Trustees includes members of the Bosch family, businesspeople, and public figures.

The Robert Bosch Hospital is owned by the non-profit Robert Bosch Stiftung. The hospital, located in Stuttgart, is part of the Foundation’s Bosch Health Campus. The Campus draws together all of the Foundation's activities and institutions in the field of health care: patient care, biomedical research, medical and nursing education and training, and the promotion and testing of promising new ideas for better health care.

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