At the turn of the century, they were the „cool guys“ who helped the German industry flourish with their groundbreaking inventions. They were innovative, successful – and Jewish: Abraham Freundlich, Albert Schöndorff, and Ludwig Loewy. An exhibition at the Memorial and Educational Centre in Düsseldorf commemorates these outstanding entrepreneurs from the machine and plant engineering sector. Their companies were boycotted or destroyed by the Nazis. They were „aryanised“, or rather, robbed. Their memory was erased by post-war society, and their names have become virtually unknown today. Now, exhibition curator Hildegard Jakobs is bringing them back into the collective memory.

Abraham Freundlich was not only a pioneer in international refrigeration technology, a key player in meat supply during World War I, and a supplier to the Imperial Navy, but he was also skilled in marketing. In 1917, he borrowed elephants from the Hagenbeck Circus and had them harnessed in front of one of his ice machines, astonishing the people of Düsseldorf. Freundlich’s ideas for better food preservation came from his work in the food trade. His breakthrough came with a beer filter, which improved the local beer and connected him to breweries. His „Polar Blitz“ was exported worldwide. For his refrigeration units, he developed advanced freezing methods. Freundlich passed away in 1938 in Düsseldorf at the age of 77, after the Nazis had destroyed his life’s work. His company was renamed „Rheinkälte Maschinenfabrik Helm & Co.“ in 1941. Freundlich's descendants managed to escape from Germany. In the two suitcases they were allowed to take, they primarily saved company documents.

Albert Schöndorff and his brother Herrmann started in the bedding industry before moving into shopfitting. They became the market leaders in the construction of high-quality department stores – the new, elegant temples of consumption of their time. In 1920, their company, Gebr. Schöndorff, was integrated into the fast growing tram and railway wagon factory company. In 1933, the wagon factory was „aryanised“ and renamed Duewag. Five years later, Schöndorff fled to the Netherlands with his wife. Both were deported to Auschwitz in 1942, possibly in a Schöndorff wagon, and died there.

Ludwig Loewy, originally from Bohemia, joined Schloemann, the market leader in hydraulic presses, in Düsseldorf at a young age. In 1936, he left Germany and established the Loewy Engineering Company in the UK. A large part of his workforce, including non-Jews, followed the charismatic entrepreneur. The press technology enabled the construction of modern aircraft, which were used by the Allies in World War II against Germany. Loewy became a British citizen and died in 1942 after a long illness.

Anyone wanting to see the visionary founders can visit the exhibition until autumn 2025. Their courage, ingenuity, and expertise have made a lasting mark on German industrial history.