{"id":9335,"date":"2023-03-21T09:57:18","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T08:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.phoenixcontact.com\/news\/portraet-die-grande-dame\/"},"modified":"2023-03-28T13:47:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T11:47:38","slug":"portraet-die-grande-dame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.phoenixcontact.com\/en\/portraet-die-grande-dame\/","title":{"rendered":"Portrait – The great lady"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some called her Aunty Ulla and snatched a chocolate egg or two during a weekend visit. Others stood to attention when hearing her voice on the other end of the telephone line. For more than six decades, Ursula Lampmann was one of Phoenix Contact’s most influential personalities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ursula Lampmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

At the time Ph\u00f6nix Elektrizit\u00e4tsgesellschaft came into existence in 1923, Ursula Lampmann was only three years old. The daughter of the managing director of a machine factory was raised in a sheltered environment in the north of Essen. After earning her degree at the Higher Commercial School, a school friend introduced her to the small company next door to the Essen Central Station, the Ph\u00f6nix Elektro- und Industrie-Bedarfsgesellschaft<\/a>, comes about through a school friend.<\/p>\n\n

Rapid career growth<\/h4>\n\n

Rapid career growthIn 1937, Ursula Lampmann began working at the \u201clittle company,\u201d as she called it with a smile in an interview later. By this time, Hugo Kn\u00fcmann’s terminal block had become a household name among experts. It was called the RWE Phoenix terminal block. The components were sourced from specialists. For example, the ceramics came from Hermsdorf Schomburg Isolatoren-Gesellschaft (HA-SCHO) in Thuringia, the brass parts from Weisser, a company in the Black Forest. The product was then assembled in the arcades under the Essen Central Station. <\/p>\n\n

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First company headquarters in the arcades of Essen Central Station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFrom the very beginning,\u201d Ursula Lampmann later recalled, “Hugo Kn\u00fcmann’s trusted me completely. I was soon put in charge of cash receipts.\u201d Six years later, the young woman was given power of attorney. An unusual sign of trust, given that the \u201cnormal\u201d German wife even had to obtain written permission from her husband before she was allowed to work at all.<\/p>\n\n

Hard times<\/h4>\n\n

During World War II, Essen, one of the centers of the German heavy machinery and weapons industry, was heavily bombed. Ph\u00f6nix Elektrizit\u00e4tsgesellschaft was not spared, and subsequently relocated to East Westphalia. While the company was housed in what was once a restaurant, Ursula Lampmann took up residence in a bedroom with the family of the later mayor Heinrich Fritzemeier. <\/p>\n\n

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Blomberg at the beginning of the 40s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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\u201cEven during this difficult period, Ursula Lampmann made sure that the company remained solvent,\u201d says long-time company spokeswoman Angela Josephs, paying tribute to Ursula Lampmann’s achievements. \u201cThis was no trivial feat, because the events of the war also significantly affected deliveries and payments. That’s when the young managing director really had to assert herself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The war was over in 1945. Major customers such as RWE, Siemens, and Braun Boveri resumed business in the Ruhr area. So, the exiles from Essen returned home in 1948. Assembly and shipping remained in Blomberg.<\/p>\n

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Hugo Kn\u00fcmann and Josef Eisert<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

In 1949, the company’s CEO Kn\u00fcmann met engineer Josef Eisert. Kn\u00fcmann and Ursula Lampmann met with the holder of many patents at his home in the Black Forest. The contact turned into a firm collaboration. <\/p>\n\n

Once Hugo Kn\u00fcmann passed away in 1953, everything changed at the commercial distributor. Ursula Lampmann inherited 20 percent of the company shares, becoming the second largest shareholder after Josef Eisert. <\/p>\n\n

Radical changes<\/h4>\n\n
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Ursula Lampmann with the shareholders Scherrbacher, Sillib and Eisert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The engineer Josef Eisert became the CEO of the company and started to realign the company’s direction. In-house manufacturing moved to the forefront. After several attempts to set up a production site in Essen, one thing was certain: The Blomberg location was expanding. Ursula Lampmann kept a firm hold on finances, making sure that the technology-loving Eisert did not take any excessive financial risks. However, she was unable put the brakes on the visionary entirely. So she was by his side when Josef Eisert set off for Switzerland to purchase the very first production machines. Instead of just one, though, Eisert acquired four machines. \u201cMr. Eisert, how are we going to pay for this?\u201d Ursula Lampmann would remain the corrective element over the next few decades, consolidating the principle of financing new growth from equity capital alone. \n<\/p>\n\n

In Blomberg a second time<\/h4>\n
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The silent shareholders Scherrbacher and Sillib with Ursula Lampmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

The company was undergoing rapid growth, and the Blomberg location quickly expanded. Having the administrative offices in Essen, separated from production in East Westphalia, was becoming an obstacle. One can imagine just how difficult the move to rural Blomberg was for the staunch urbanite. In 1967, though, Lampmann headed to East Westphalia for the second time. The company ultimately became the life’s work of the unmarried woman from Essen with no children. Her home was next door to that of the Eisert family. In her personal life, the energetic highly respected Ursula Lampmann was \u201cAunty Ulla,\u201d the muchloved contact point for the young Eiserts searching for sweets. <\/p>\n

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While Ursula Lampmann was a charming, humorous, and approachable personality in person, even the engineers in the company stood up when they heard her voice on the other end of the telephone line when she called to ask for product calculations.<\/p>\n\n

Josef Eisert died in 1975, and his son Klaus was appointed as successor. With him, Ursula Lampmann experienced the third company leader. This brought along ven more rapid company growth with more and more new subsidiaries abroad. Still, under the influence of Ursula Lampmann, the company and its management remained true to the firm belief in liquidity and financial independence. <\/p>\n

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After 58 years with the company, Ursula Lampmann retired from her active role at Phoenix Contact in 1995. She continued to actively follow the fate of the company as a shareholder, though. Ursula Lampmann passed away in Blomberg at the age of 94 in June 2015.<\/p>\n\n

The tasks that Ursula Lampmann performed over the decades are distributed among various departments in the years that follow. The position that the Essen native held in the company was and therefore remains unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inquired<\/h2>\n
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Angela Josephs<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

Angela Josephs, long-time company spokesperson for Phoenix Contact, on the role and importance of Ursula Lampmann for Phoenix Contact.<\/p>\n\n

UPDATE: Mrs. Josephs, when and how did you meet Ursula Lampmann?<\/em><\/p>\n\n

That was in the context of my hiring in the summer of 1989. I had my interview with her. At that time, she was also responsible for personnel, among other things. A very friendly and attentive person, but one also had respect for her right away.<\/p>\n\n

UPDATE: Tell us a little bit about her charm? How should we imagine Ursula Lampmann as a person?<\/em><\/p>\n\n

She was a very charismatic, very pointed and disciplined personality. She was quite a strict boss, but could also be very approachable, generous and cheerful.<\/p>\n

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UPDATE: What topics were close to Ursula Lampmann’s heart?<\/em><\/p>\n\n

She was always 100 percent there for Phoenix Contact. In her private life, she greatly appreciated art and culture, and at the same time was a true child of the Ruhr region. Ursula Lampmann attached great importance to things like politeness, tone, friendliness and level. In this very engineering- and male-dominated company, this shaped a special form of togetherness, the corporate culture itself. This continued and still continues today, right down to the furnishings of the workplaces and business premises.<\/p>\n\n

UPDATE: What defined her role within the company?<\/em><\/p>\n\n

When there were heated discussions between the Eisert brothers, she was able to mediate and sometimes put an end to a matter by putting her foot down. And she always kept a sharp eye on liquidity. Liquidity before growth – that’s how we were and have remained financially independent. Mrs. Lampmann calculated the prices by hand in her room. At that time, there was no controlling, no cost accounting. The calculation was in her hands. She was the controlling hand in the background, who also skillfully kept the investment appetite of the technology-enthusiastic company bosses in check.<\/p>\n\n

UPDATE: Ursula Lampmann held a key position at Phoenix Contact for six decades. She never had a true successor. What is her legacy? Where can she still be felt today?<\/em><\/p>\n

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Interview at the Essen Zollverein<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

After her departure, the company became so large that a modern setup was necessary. So there could not be a successor in the direct sense.In addition to the iron-clad imperative of liquidity, she had a decisive influence on the corporate culture. Respect, courtesy and humanity, from the worker at the machine to the shareholder in their dealings with each other – in my view, that is Ursula Lampmann’s legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some called her Aunty Ulla and snatched a chocolate egg or two during a weekend visit. Others stood to attention when hearing her voice on the other end of the telephone line. For more than six decades, Ursula Lampmann was one of Phoenix Contact’s most influential personalities. Ursula Lampmann At the time Ph\u00f6nix Elektrizit\u00e4tsgesellschaft came …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":6,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1466,320],"tags":[1489,1508,1467,1468,712,1506,1505,1504,1503],"class_list":["post-9335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-think","tag-100-years","tag-angela-josephs-en","tag-history","tag-history-en","tag-inquired","tag-shareholder","tag-shareholders","tag-the-grande-dame","tag-ursula-lampmann-en"],"yoast_head":"\nPortrait - The great lady - UPDATE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ursula Lampmann was one of the most formative personalities at Phoenix Contact for more than six decades. 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