English Site

Adolf Bleichert & Co. was a famous German engineering company from Lipsia (Saxony),  which very soon became the world’s leading cable car and ropeway constructions enterprise, both for material cable cars as well as for person transportation ropeways and, although nowadays it doesent exist anymore as a company, it is still considered, from a historic industrial point of view, to be the founder of the modern cable way system and inventor and deliverer of the most important wire ropeways throughout the world. More than 5.000 wire ropeways have been ordered, built and delivered to many countries during the existance  and growth of Bleichert company, starting from it beginning in 1874 until 1994, passing through many decades of history.  

It was founded in 1874 by Adolf Bleichert and began to build bicable aerial tramways for mining in the Ruhr. With important patents, and dozens of working systems in Europe, Bleichert dominated the industry.

He licensed the Cooper – Hewitt & Co. Trenton Iron Works (American Steel & Wire Company) in New Jersey to build his designs in America. Bleichert went on to build hundreds of aerial tramways around the world: from Alaska to Argentina, Australia and Spitsbergen. Bleichert also built hundreds of aerial tramways for both the Imperial German Army and the Wehrmacht.

One in 1905 realized aerial tramway in Chilecito Argentina is considered a masterpiece. The „Cablecarril“ is long approximately about 35 km and klimbes up to 4.600 m.a.s.l. starting from a small town Chilecito located in province La Rioja northern part  of Argentina at the bottom of Andes Mountains at 1.075  m.a.s.l. , that’s more than 3.525 meters altitude difference. Today it has become a National Monument of Argentina, a heritage site and a touristic place to visit. Bleichert built hundreds of material transportation systems in many European countries, but also in eastern Europe as Czechoslovakia and even Russia, Africa or China. 

Bleichert diversified into passenger cable cars such as the Predigtstuhl Aerial Tramway in the Alps, coal cutting machinery and electric cars. Further examples of passenger cable cars built by Bleichert include Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car, Krossobanen in Norway, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway in South Africa, Burgberg Cable Car in Germany, Aeri de Montserrat in Catalunya and the Port Vell Aerial Tramway crossing the port of Barcelona from Torre Sant Sebastian via Torre Jaume I to Montjuic, but also the Kohlerer Bergbahn in Bozen (Southtyrol/Italy).

Max von Bleichert (born May 28, 1875 in Schkeuditz ; † January 24, 1947 in Bad Sachsa ) was a German industrialist of the cable cars and transport plant industry . Together with his brother Paul von Bleichert  (born Mayy 14, 1877 in Leipzig; † September 18, 1938 in Zürich) , he led the company, founded by his father Adolf Bleichert (born May 31, 1845 in Dessau; † July 29, 1901 in Davos), for cable cars in Leipzig-Gohlis and developed it into the world largest cable cars and transport plant factory.

Source: Wikipedia Bleichert & Co.

Adolf Bleichert & Co.  50th anniversary 1924:

At the occasion of the 50th anniversary (1874 – 1924) of the Bleichert company a retrospective was created on behalf of the Bleichert family and company owners Max and Paul von Bleichert.  

This review has been developed and  written by Professor Dr.Ing. G.W. Koehler from Polytechnic Institute Darmstadt and was published on 1st July 1924.

The title of this book is: (english translation)

ADOLF BLEICHERT & CO. LEIPZIG

RETROSPECT AND REVIEW AT THE OCCASION OF ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY ON JULY 1, 1924

BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE ENTERPRISE TYPE AND INFLUENCE OF ITS PRODUCTS

The original version has been written of course in German language. Some printed samples of this book including many images still exist and are held by Bleichert family members and historian or collectors as well.

The book was translated by Rolf von Bleichert in 2015 – © copyright – all rights reserved     PDF:  Bleichert 50th Anniversary 1924 – Retrospect G.W. Koehler

Bleichert family history and nobilty certificate:

Hereafter is the copy of the original document – nobilty certificate – concerning the family tree of Max von Bleichert  (LINIE I) and his descendants which still belongs to this von Bleichert family line and is kept safe by a family member on behalf of all the other living von Bleichert’s of their ancestor.

 

English translation from German wording:

Bleichert Adelsbrief 1 (eng.)       Bleichert Adelsbrief 2 (eng.)

Also see some information about the Kingdom of Saxony (Wikipedia) and about the last King Friedrich August III (Wikipedia) of Saxony , as well as about their dynasty House of Wettin (Wikipedia) !

 

Bleichert company literature and documents:

Dr. Peter von Bleichert, the great-great grandson of Adolf Bleichert and great grandson of Max von Bleichert , grandson of Wolfram von Bleichert and son of Rolf von Bleichert, is the autor of a very interesting book, which he has written and pubblished in 2014 and which deals with the history of Bleichert industrial achievements. The book title is  „Bleichert’s Wire Ropeways“ ( edited by Kindle Amazon.de ). It is available both, in English language, as well as in German language.

 

Bleichert company advertisement and products:

This english catalogue  „Bleichert Aerial Ropeways for Passenger Traffic“ was printed by Bleichert Transportanlagen GmbH in 1933 and doubtless destinated to the international, English speaking market. It contains a summary of the Bleichert passenger aerial ropeways built until 1933.

1933 Bleichert Passenger Arial Ropeways
Cover page of the englsh wording catalogue (1933). Design with the typical Bleichert dodecagonal passenger pavilion cabin

 

1933 Bleichert Passenger Arial Ropeways 1 - Copia

 

1933 Bleichert Passenger Arial Ropeways 3 - Copia - Copia
Bleichert Passengers Aerial Ropeways built until 1933

 

The English wording catalogue from 1933 consisting in 43 pages including n.27 passengers aerial ropeways images is hereafter attached as a PDF – document :