Henschel & Son



Henschel & Son (Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons.

Georg Christian Carl Henschel founded the factory in 1810 at Kassel. His son Carl Anton Henschel founded another factory in 1837. In 1848, the company began manufacturing locomotives. The factory became the largest locomotive manufacturer in Germany by the 20th century. Henschel built 10 articulated steam trucks, using Doble steam designs, for Deutsche Reichsbahn railways as delivery trucks. Several cars were built as well, one of which became Hermann Göring's staff car. In 1935 Henschel was able to upgrade its various steam locomotives to a high-speed Streamliner type with a maximum speeds of up to 85 mi/h by the addition of a removable shell over the old steam locomotive.

World War II
Early in 1935, Henschel began manufacturing Panzer I tanks. During World War II, the firm was responsible for license production of the Dornier Do 17Z medium bomber, and in 1939–1940 it began large-scale production of the Panzer III. Henschel was the sole manufacturer of the Tiger I and Tiger II. In 1945, the company had 8000 workers working in two shifts each of 12 hours. The company used forced labour extensively. The company's factories were among the most important bomber targets and were nearly completely destroyed. Although throughout the war they did manufacture narrow gauge locomotives.

Henschel aircraft and missiles included:
 * Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling (Butterfly), surface-to-air missile (rocket-engined)
 * Henschel Hs 121, fighter + trainer (prototype)
 * Henschel Hs 122, army co-operation/reconnaissance
 * Henschel Hs 123, ground-attack (biplane)
 * Henschel Hs 124, heavy fighter + bomber (prototype)
 * Henschel Hs 125, fighter + trainer (prototype)
 * Henschel Hs 126, reconnaissance
 * Henschel Hs 127, fast medium bomber (schnellbomber prototype)
 * Henschel Hs 128,
 * Henschel Hs 129, ground-attack
 * Henschel Hs 130, high altitude reconnaissance + bomber (prototypes)
 * Henschel Hs 132, dive bomber (jet-engined) (prototype)
 * Henschel Hs 135, delta wing
 * Henschel Hs 293, glide bomb (rocket-powered)
 * Henschel Hs 294, anti-shipping glide bomb (rocket-powered)
 * Henschel Hs 295,
 * Henschel Hs 296,
 * Henschel Hs 297 Föhn, 73mm antiaircraft rocket-launcher
 * Henschel Hs 298, air-to-air missile (rocket-powered)
 * Henschel Hs P.75, A 1941 design with slightly swept-back wings placed at the rear, swept-back canards at the front, and double pusher propellers at the rear.
 * Henschel Hs P.87, A design similar to the Hs P.75, except that the canards in the front are straight and the wing is curved.
 * Henschel 'Zitterrochen',

Post-war business
Manufacturing began again in 1948. In 1964, the company took over Rheinische Stahlwerke and became Rheinstahl Henschel AG, in 1976 Thyssen-Henschel, and 1990 ABB Henschel AG. In 1996, the company became ABB Daimler Benz Transportation Adtranz. The company was subsequently acquired by Bombardier (Canada) around 2002. The Kassel facility still exists and is one of the world's largest manufacturers of locomotives.

Types of Henschel locomotives
Private, mining and industry railways


 * Generation 1
 * Henschel DH 110
 * Henschel DH 200
 * Henschel DH 360
 * Henschel DH 550


 * Generation 2
 * Henschel DH 240
 * Henschel DH 360
 * Henschel DH 390
 * Henschel DH 440
 * Henschel DH 630
 * Henschel DH 875
 * Henschel DHG 630
 * Henschel DH 500
 * Henschel DH 500


 * Generation 3
 * Henschel DH 120 B
 * Henschel DH 180 B
 * Henschel DH 240 B
 * Henschel DH 360 B
 * Henschel DH 500 B
 * Henschel DH 120 B
 * Henschel DH 120 B
 * Henschel DH 120 B
 * Henschel DH 120 B
 * Henschel DH 360 Ca
 * Henschel DH 440 Ca
 * Henschel DH 500 Ca
 * Henschel DH 600 Ca
 * Henschel DH 700 Ci
 * Henschel DH 360 D
 * Henschel DH 700 D
 * Henschel DH 850 D


 * Generation 4
 * Henschel DHG 500 C
 * Henschel DHG 700 C
 * Henschel DHG 1000 BB
 * Henschel DHG 1200 BB


 * Generation 5
 * Henschel DHG 300 B
 * Henschel DHG 700 C
 * Henschel DHG 700 C-F
 * Henschel DHG 800 BB
 * Henschel DHG 1200 BB


 * Generation 6
 * Henschel DHG 300 B
 * Henschel DE 500 C


 * Esslinger
 * Henschel DHG 160 B
 * Henschel DHG 200 B
 * Henschel DHG 240 B
 * Henschel DHG 275 B
 * Henschel DHG 330 C


 * Bundesbahn
 * Henschel-BBC DE2500


 * Export
 * Henschel DHG 625 C as SJ-Series V 4 und SJ-Series V 5
 * Henschel DH 600 C for Export to Ghana and Sudan
 * Henschel NY5 for the Chinese Railways
 * Henschel NY6 for the Chinese Railways
 * Henschel NY7 for the Chinese Railways

Notable Employees

 * Chief Designer Erwin Aders
 * Dr. Herbert A. Wagner (see Henschel Hs 117, Henschel Hs 293, Henschel Hs 294, Supercavitation, Operation Paperclip)