Offline Website MakerGKMO -The Historical Circle introduces itself
The “Geschichtskreis Motorenfabrik Oberursel”, (Historical Circle of the Motorenfabrik Oberursel) abbreviated GKMO, was founded on August 5th, 2010 with its headquarters in Oberursel. The purpose of the association, anchored in its statutes, is to preserve, to expand, maintain, convey, and make accessible the cultural and historical legacy of the Motorenfabrik, founded in Oberursel in 1892, including all later operating and corporate forms and names of this company and with the products manufactured here. The Historical Circle’s aim is to contribute to strengthening the historical awareness within the company and the public.
The museum was opened on September 30, 2002 after two years of construction and as part of a ceremony to mark the 110th anniversary of the Oberursel Motorenfabrik. It is situated on the site of Rolls-Royce Deutschland. Without the museum the Historical Circle would probably not have come into existence. The factory museum was and still is the identity-creating core and heart of our association. The museum also expresses the Historical Circle’s close ties to its host company, Rolls-Royce Deutschland - and with it a certain degree of dependency. The spirit, the nature and scope of this bond were sealed in a collaboration agreement signed in October 2012. At the same time, the legal capacity with the status of "registered association" was sought, which was achieved with the entry at the registration court in Bad Homburg in February 2014.
Since November 2010, the Historical Circle has its own website and provides information about itself and the history of the Motorenfabrik. The website is www.gkmo.net.
The aim of the Historical Circle
The main aims of the Historical Society as in the wording of the statutes are:
• Support of the museum of the Motorenfabrik
• Collection of relevant historical information, documents, exhibits and other objects
• Maintenance and expansion of the technical collection (exhibits and other objects)
• Maintenance and expansion of a history archive (collection of information, documentation and historical records)
• Research, description and communication of the history of the Motorenfabrik
• Implementation of events promoting the purpose of the association
The working groups
The activities required to achieve the goals of the association are concentrated in three working groups:
• The museum working group is responsible for the design and maintenance of the museum and the respective exhibits as well as the practical operation of the museum.
• The Technical Collection working group manages, maintains and restores the exhibits collected and renders them available for presentation in the museum.
• The factory history working group endeavors to research, document and publish the factory history of the Motorenfabrik and for this purpose operates the history archive with archival collections and a technical library.
The organs of the Historical Circle.
The statutory organs of the Historical Circle are the members and the board of directors:
The board of directors is responsible for all running and statutory affairs of the Historical Society. The board reports on these affairs in the general meeting. The executive board consists of the 1st and 2nd chairman, the secretary, the treasurer and the three working group leaders. The board is supported by up to five associate members. The leaders of the working groups manage their work area independently.
Regular Information meetings
The history of the Motorenfabrik in Oberursel
As already mentioned, the purpose of the association is to preserve, expand and to convey the cultural and historical legacy of the Motorenfabrik and this is impressively fulfilled above all by means of two pillars:
• The history of the location recreated in the museum of the Motorenfabrik, modelled along the lines of the products developed and built here on this site.
• One of the highlights of our publications is certainly the richly illustrated 896-page book "125 Years of the Oberursel Motorenfabrik - 1892 to 2017".
The book conveys the previous history of the Motorenfabrik from its beginnings in a unique way.
We also contribute to the presentation of the history of the site in other public media, such as in the free encyclopedia Wikipedia, in the yearbooks of the Hochtaunuskreis (the district of Hesse, where Oberursel is situated.) communications of the Historical Circle and other publications.
1. Regular Information meetings
In addition to the activities of the working groups, the meetings held every two months are an essential part of the Circle’s life. Such meetings usually begin with a short lecture on a topic from the past or the present concerning the site followed by refreshments, where interested members of the Historical Circle get together in the factory museum and exchange information and experiences. A summary of the short presentations from these lectures, as well, as the “circulars” with which we report on important events in the circle, of the factory museum, at the company, or on the history of the Motorenfabrik, can be viewed on our website.
The members are informed in good time of the dates and times and about the topic of the meeting. Registered guests are always welcome to attend.
2. Members‘ General Meeting
The members of the Historical Circle meet at least once a year in a general assembly and receives the report of the board through the chairman and votes on the election of the board members and the finance auditors. Further, the members discharge the board members and the finance auditors. The members also vote on motions on changes to the statutes and on other motions brought by the board and by the members.
The general meeting was scheduled to take have taken place on the 17. March 2020, but was postponed until further notice due to the corona pandemic.
3. Day trips
Day trips to technical and historical locations have yet to become a tradition. In 2019 we visited the Technikum Deutz (engine museum of the Deutz company in Porz, near Cologne) and then moved on to browse around the old cathedral city of Cologne. The next planned day trip is a visit to the roller bearing metropolis of Schweinfurt. We will inform the club members by email as soon as the planning is finalised.
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