Wind power history

LUBING donates a wind power pump from the early 1960s to the German Wind Power Museum on permanent loan.

LUBING Maschinenfabrik was founded in 1949 by Ludwig Bening in Barnstorf, Lower Saxony. Various products were manufactured in the early years. The initial production included wind power pumps for supplying water to cattle on pastures. However, mechanical engineer Ludwig Bening was particularly interested in wind turbines. The area of wind power pasture pumps (trade name: LUBING wind power pumps) soon became the most important product area in the company.

The blades of the wind power pumps were initially bent sheet metal.

But as early as 1955, polystyrene was also used to make blades. Perhaps because of this, sales of wind power pumps peaked in 1960.

The increasing proportion of exports to neighbouring countries such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and Denmark, as well as overseas countries such as Mexico and Chile, also contributed to this.

The blades were later manufactured from other plastics using injection moulding. In addition to the 4 and 6-blade wind power pumps, wind power pond aerators were also added to the product range.

LUBING Maschinenfabrik still manufactures wind turbines today, albeit only in very small quantities. Cord Kütemeyer, who has worked at LUBING since 1975, assembles these, sometimes working from home.

He has reconditioned an old rotor head from the early 1960s from his collection for the German Wind Power Museum. With a new pump, new blades and a new mast, this turbine was handed over to the wind power museum today as a permanent loan.

With this turbine, a piece of the company’s history will now be preserved for posterity in the museum.

We are very pleased about this project and hope that this almost 60-year-old turbine will be able to illustrate for a long time to come, especially to young visitors, how easily wind power was and still can be utilised.