W iesenbronn in Lower Franconia, a community with just under 1000 inhabitants at the foot of the Schwanberg. Time seems to have stopped: Cozy single-family homes and small craftsmanship characterize the villagescape. However, moving only a few meters towards the outskirts, this idyll vanishes: modern buildings, innovative architecture, large production halls and warehouses, and a quiet but clearly perceptible noise that points to the work of CNC machines.
Georg Ackermann GmbH is based here, a company that specializes in difficult and unusual projects. “We still see ourselves as a carpentry company,” says managing director Frank Ackermann, who has been managing the family business with his wife Andrea since 1992 in the third generation.
“The manufacture of furniture is just as much a part of our range of tasks as the production of complex special molded parts.” Every year, we process around 3000 very different orders. The focus is on exhibition and interior design, product development and the architecture of art objects. So one was for the automaker Audi and Porsche already active in exhibition construction.
Gerhard Richter’s studio
The German artist Gerhard Richter whose works are among the most sought after on the international art market is also part of the customer base. His studio has been equipped with cupboards, shelves and doors and he has already produced one or two pieces for one of his works of art.
“Our experience with large projects and collaboration with major artists and architects has given us a good reputation in the industry; Often we are recommended by our clients to new customers, “says Ackermann.
So it was with one of the largest projects of the company, the construction of an acoustic model of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg according to the specifications of the acoustic engineer Yasuhisa Toyota, after whose model the world-famous concert hall was created.
A model for the Elbphilharmonie
“In early 2006, Nagata Acoustics, Japan, was in the final stages of designing the finished building, looking for a company that could produce a one-ten scale model to verify acoustics. Through a report in the F.A.Z. We learned about it and applied directly to the Swiss architecture office Herzog & De Meuron. A short time later we had the order, “recalls Ackermann. “Had we not previously gained experience in major projects, such cooperation would probably never have come about.”
Actually, the Ackermann GmbH with its more than 120 employees and six modern CNC machines, whose value exceeds 500,000 euros, was prepared for every job; and yet the acoustic model also presented difficulties.
“The acoustic concept is that there are these teeter-sized depressions that diffuse the sound. In our model we had milled these one million depressions from a mineral material. For the model of the reflector alone, which hangs over the stage in the Elbphilharmonie, a CNC machine has been in operation for 21 hours. ”