Magdeburg Heavy Machine-Building Combine

(full name, Ernst Thalmann Magdeburg Heavy Machine-building Combine), one of the largest enterprises of heavy machine building in the German Democratic Republic. The headquarters of the combine are in Magdeburg. The combine was established in 1969 as a result of the merger of the Ernst Thalmann Heavy Machine-building Plant (Magdeburg), the Heinrich Rau Heavy Machine-building Plant (Wildau, near Berlin), a special assembly plant (Weimar), a plant manufacturing equipment for cement plants (Dessau), and a plant producing metallurgical equipment (Berlin), with a total of 19,000 employees.

The main establishment, the Ernst Thalmann Plant, was founded in Magdeburg in 1855. Until 1945 it was called the Krupp Grusonwerk AG; in 1951 it was named for Thalmann. Under the reign of fascism in Germany, the plant was engaged in war production. During World War II (1939-45) it was largely destroyed. After the war the plant was rebuilt and switched to production of peacetime goods. It is now manufacturing equipment for the metallurgical, building-materials, and food industries, as well as cable machines and cranes. A significant proportion of its production is exported. The plant has been awarded the Order of the Banner of Labor (1964).