alga History

 

The history of the alga company as it stands today begins in 1951 after the confiscation of the property and expulsion of the founder, Alfred Gaßmann, from Thuringia. He built up the Anhänger-Gassmann company near Göttingen. In 1968 he bought the assets of a bankrupt door factory, now alga, in Sittensen at an auction on the spur of the moment.

1951

 

Foundation by Alfred Gassmann! Build-up of the Anhänger Gassmann company in Göttingen.

1968

 

Successful bid at auction for the assets of a bankrupt door factory in Sittensen. Now it’s alga!

1969

01.01. Foundation of a commercial vehicle dealership and repair business by Horst Gassmann, the son of Alfred Gassmann, on the premises of the former door factory.

 

Conversion of the existing buildings.

 

1972/1973

The company now has 40 employees.

Extension and modernisation of the technical equipment with the creation of new jobs.

The service workshop is doubled in size to 3,800 sq. m. The building now accommodates a body shop, paint shop with drying booths and a vehicle washing plant. Everything is equipped with state-of-the-art machines and installations.

 

Extension of the office area.

 

1974

First large orders from the Near East. 50 new tank trucks roll all the way to Syria in a convoy.

 

Personnel has grown to 55 employees.

1976

 

Opening of the Hamburg branch.

1977

 

Keys to the new 9,000 sq. m. multi-purpose building handed over to Horst Gassmann on 11.11.

1978

10th anniversary of the company! 

Conclusion of all interior construction and opening of the new multi-purpose building.

1979

Tyre warehouse and tyre fitting shop were constructed and handed over for use.

 

20 new jobs created thereby.

1980

The paving of the company premises at Molkereistraße which was started in 1976 was completed. A hard-surface exhibition space of 125,000 sq. m. is now available.

alga in South America. Opening of a branch in Santiago de Chile.

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1981

 

Extended and modernized office accommodation, both in the offices at Heidornweg and the vehicle showroom and tyre shops, moved into.  

1982

 

Start of the omnibus business with acquisition of all the new, demonstration and used buses of the Magirus-Iveco organization in Mainz-Mombach.

1983

 

23rd and 24th April, sale of the 20,000th vehicle with a big party. The proceeds were donated to the Aktion Sorgenkind charity.

1984

 

Opening of the branch in Virginia/USA with premises of approx. 70,000 sq. m.

1985

 

Acquisition of 26,000 sq. m. of industrial space in Sittensen.

1986

 

110 large articulated buses were sold to China. 10 Chinese spent three months being trained in the alga workshop, so that the buses could subsequently be maintained and repaired.

1988

 

Opening of a branch in the Ruhr District, first in Düsseldorf, then relocation to Duisburg in 1996.

1989

 

200 buses are sold to Iran.

1991/1992

 

Acquisition and modernisation of an automobile trading and repair business in Oranienburg north of Berlin. Branch opened under the name “Autohaus Oranienburg”. Authorized dealer for Mazda and Iveco.

1993

 

Opening of further branches in Poland (Szczecin and Radom) as well as in St. Petersburg (Russia), Kiev (Ukraine) and Rostov-on-Don. alga operates as an authorized dealer of Daimler-Benz AG and MAN in the Russian territories to some extent.

1994

 

25th anniversary of the alga group. Big party in Sittensen with representatives from all the various locations inside and outside Germany. Even the media reported on this event, which was of great significance for the transport industry.

2014

 

45th anniversary of the alga group.

 

26.11.
Employees from locations throughout the world congratulated Horst Gassmann on his 70th birthday. The company founder continues to be available to the company with a high level of commitment and in-depth knowledge of the market and vehicles.