The Lunkenheimer Valve Company was founded by a German immigrant in 1862 and was located in Cincinnati. The immigrant’s name was Frederick Lunkenheimer and the house where he used to live is now listed as a building of historical interest (although it now serves as offices for the Pension Corporation of America, and the Alliance Benefit Group).
Frederick was a skilled metal worker back in Germany but he did not immediately find “fame and fortune” after his arrival in the USA. He worked in New York for a while and then headed out west where things did not go particularly well for him. At one point, he lost all his belongings and money in a robbery before, eventually, ending up in Cincinnati. He got married, had children and worked for several years at the Greenwood Works foundry in Cincinnati.
The Lunkenheimer Valve Company
Frederick left Greenwood’s and started his own company in 1862 under the name of Cincinnati Brass Works. He was innovative in the field of components for use with steam and manufactured parts for steamboats and military equipment. The metalworking industries thrived during the Civil War and so did Lunkenheimer.
When his son Edmund joined the business, they renamed it as the Lunkenheimer Valve Company. Edmund was also an inventor (he was granted several patents) and a forward looking entrepreneur who, as president, took the Lunkenheimer Valve Company to even greater heights. The rise of the automobile and airplane industries plus World War 1 also added to their profits.
The period between the World Wars was not particularly good for the Lunkenheimer Valve Company although things did look up during World War 2. By 1963, the last of Frederick’s direct descendents left the company which survived a few more years before losing a hostile takeover bid from Condec in June of 1968 (when, officially, the Lunkenheimer Valve Company ceased to exist).
Cincinnati Valve Company
One way or another, the reputation of the Lunkenheimer Valve Company survived the demise of that company and, in 1994 the Cincinnati Valve Company was formed for the purpose of producing Lunkenheimer valves under license. In fact, they operate from the same plant in Cincinnati that Lunkenheimer used.
The Tradition & Parts Supply Lives On
You can still buy the famous Lunkenheimer valves but, today, they are manufactured by the Cincinnati Valve Company. Perhaps of even more interest to many plant operators; spare parts for their older Lunkenheimer Valve Company products are still available.
