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The companies and products of
the Viennese entrepreneur-family
Lehner/Schmid/Lorenz/Leiningen-Billigheim/Eichele/Hauer
and their vivid tradition in the family enterprises of
the Austrian Lecon®Group.
Introduction | 1850 | 1870 | 1887 | 1890 | 1920 | 1930 | 1948 | 1961 | 1993 | 1994 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005
the heritage of
a family company group ...
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... developed in its branches over 5
generations in the fields of food & beverage,
fashion & accessories design and
-manufacture, architecture & structural
engineering, automotive construction, eyewear
fashion and -production and alpine ski
construction.
But at the beginning there is the Old Viennese
restaurant- & pastry manufacture of Theresia
Hauer, the great- and great-great-grandmother of
today´s owners of ®the Austrian LeconGroup.
The current group structure represents the new
formation and conjunction of all grown company
branches of the last 150 years. The hence
resulting cross connections bring about synergies
leading to permanently new the philosophy of our
companies since their origins dedicated to our
family device:products, following
Numquam Retrorsum /
Never going back.
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At the beginning
there is a unique
Almond-Chocolate-Cake
a piece of Austrian culture
& fine culinary lifestyle.
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1829 1850
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Theresia
Hauer, great- and
great-great-grandmother of today´s owners of
Lipizzaner Confiserie, was born in 1829 as a
daughter of a landlord in the Viennese
Josefstadt. In 1850 she took over her parents´
Old-Viennese restaurant and shortly afterwards a
further restaurant in near Hungary, in which also
the "haute école" of the traditional
Austrian pastries was preserved. At
that time she developed an unique
almond-chocolate-cake the recipe of which was
passed on until today as our traditional
family-house-cake, now produced under our
international brand Original Lipizzaner®Torte
with an icing out of real white chocolate. The
recipe of this delicious cake as well as of its
white icing is a family secret until now.
This typical Austrian
quality product is manufactured after
family-recipe of 1850. By way of the newly
developed unique icing out of
real white chocolate
our traditional family-housecake owns a worldwide
uninterchangeable apperance and trademark.
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The Wiener
Ringstraßen Age
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1870 |
The
Stone Cutter- & Structural Engineering
Company of Wilhelm
Eichele, the great- and
great-great-grandfather of today´s owners of the
Austrian Lecon®
Group, participted in the building of the Wiener
Ringstraße, one of the
world´s greatest city-building-projects of the
late 19th century.
For realization of this huge project between 1970
and 1980 there was great demand on an
acceleration of the overall building time as well
as a just-in-time availability of
building-elements.For this
logistical demand Wilhelm Eichele developed a
number of new processes and plants for
natural-stone-manufacture. His company had
special skill and know-how in marble- and
granite-cutting and treatment as well as in
time-saving manufacture of modular building
elements out of natural stone.
Wilhelm Eichele participated in the construction
of a numer of famous buildings of the Wiener
Ringstraße being main part of the Viennese
architectural heritage, e.g. the Viennese city
hall, the Viennese opera, the Viennese
university, the Viennese stock exchange and some
magnificent Ringstraßen-Palais. And part part of
the marble employed, e.g. at the Viennese
city-hall, originates from the high quality
family own quarries in todays Hungary near the
Danube.
A statue of Wilhelm Eichele is situated under the
arcades of the Vienna City-Hall.
Based on this tradition, the company branch Ringstraßenmarmor®
still exists with an architecture-branch and a
technology-branch comprising leading new
internationally patented technologies in
prefabricated modular building elements and
exquisite interior design.
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Trachten Lorenz™ 1887
and its company-roots in the age of
the Viennese Biedermeier ...
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1805 1830
1887
1900
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In
1887, the great-great-parents of today´s owners
of Lecon®
Group, Karl Lorenz -
son of a shoemaker and saddler who around 1830
specialized in the manufacture of riding- and
hunting-boots, and grandson of a taylor in the
Viennese Biedermeier Age, who founded his
manufacture in 1805 - and Anna
Theresia Lorenz-Staudigl -
daughter of Theresia Hauer and her husband, the
gastronomer Franz Staudigl - and a taylor
herself, founded their common company Trachten
Lorenz™
in the Viennese Josefstadt.
From the beginning they manufctured high-class
fashion and accessories at the highest quality
level after own designs, delivering their
exqisite styles even to the Austrian imperial
court. The product range comprised traditional
Austrian dresses and splended festive robes, but
also hats and accessories like fine travelling
bags.
Anna Theresia Lorenz´
sister Christina
Countess of Leiningen-Billigheim
and their husband Karl
Count of Leiningen-Billigheim,
a bavarian diplomat, scientist and a passionate
archaeologist, tested the Lorenz™
Travelling Fashion and -Accesories
for durability and practicability in their
numerous journeys to Egypt and Ephesus. By way of
this interesting feedback the Lorenz company
consequently improved its products. That way
besides new fabrics for travelling fashion there
emerged bag-designs and accessory collections,
whose design and treatment still have surprising
validity with regard to high durability.
The family connection lead to the company Lorenz
& Leiningen™.
Coat of arms and name of the house of
Leiningen-Billigheim was given to their niece and
only heir Emilie Lorenz,
daughter of Anna Theresia und Karl Lorenz, and
since that time up to now is the trademark of the
Lorenz &
Leiningen™
fashion- and accessories lines. |
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1920 |
From
1920 the company Lorenz
& Leiningen™
is carried on by Emilie
Schmid-Lorenz,
who enlarged the branch with milliner
manufacture.
That way the Lecon®Group´s
heritage in fashion design and manufacture
successfully started and up to now is carried on
in our branches Lorenz
& Leiningen™
and Leconte®. |
Automobile und
Technics
since the beginning of the
Industrial Age
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1890 |
Laurenz
Schmid, great
grandfather of todays owners of Lecon®Group,
grew up as the elderst son of a family of
wine-growers and horse breeders. On the one hand
his interest was directed to farriery and
coach-building as well as the manufcture of
technical items for faciliating the wine-growing,
on the other hand to the trade with his own
products. Additionally, the beginning Industrial
Age soon opened hin completely new perspectives.
After early trade with the first technical mass
products of the late 19th century - sewing
machines and bicycles - Laurenz Schmid founded Laurenz
Schmid Engineering & Automotive Trading,
a trading-, construction- and repair company
situated directly in the Viennese Inner City and
he became a renowned Austrian automotive
pioneer. There followed
the import and general distribution of Lancia
cars and Moto Guzzi motor-cycles.
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1900 |
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1920 |
Since
Laurenz Schmid´s eldest son Karl
Schmid entered the
family company it soon became evident that the
automotive dedication of the company happend to
go far beyond.
Being an airplane-pilot and a successful racing
car- and motor-cycle driver for Lancia and Moto
Guzzi in the 1920ies and 1930ies, he consequently
tested his own constructions for road going cars
himself under racing conditions. Accordingly, he
successfully participated in numerous climbing
races with Lancia racing cars and Moto Guzzi
motor-cycles often considerably modified in
technical and optical respects.
He implements his technical cross-connections of
his prefered fields of interest - airplane- and
racing-car building - in the family company and
enlarges the already very innovative
construction- & engineering branch. He
develops and constructs a number of improvements
in the fields of steering-damping,
wheel-suspension, clutches and breaks. His
aerodynamic chassis and coachwork designs are in
direct connection with airplane construction.
Many of his constructions and improvements are
important development-steps up to today´s state
of the art in automotive technics.
The marriage between Karl
Schmid and Emilie
Lorenz brought up new
synergies of the both companies Laurenz
Schmid & Sons and
Trachten Lorenz™,
like e.g. the launch of a new fashion- and
accessory line for automotive- and motor-cycle
drivers and especially adapted space-saving
automotive-bags. Even the manufacture of suitable
boots - like already in another family company
100 years before - was adapted to the needs of
automotive drivers and motor-cyclists and
reintegrated in the production program.
From 1948 these company branches become enlarged
by a new division - the Lorenz
automotive refinement and
optimizing of
engines and wheel-suspensions.
On basis of cars of Lancia, Peugeot, Rover,
Porsche and Mercedes-Benz cars of the 1950ies Laurenz
Schmid & Sons
build lightweight sportscar-versions, enlarge the
engine performance and retouche suspensions,
gear-boxes, breaks and overall aerodynamics.
These cars driven by private drivers and customes
successfully participated in sportscar races of
the 1950ies and 1960ies. In 1958 the company
implemente and adapt Porsche 356 engines and
suspensions parts into VW-Beatles in higher
numbers and start a branch which today is known
as Car Tuning.
That way our heritage in automotive technology,
car tuning and aerodynamic design has been
profoundly established from the time of the
pioneers and is consequently continued in
today´s division Leconte®
Automotive.
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| 1930 |
| 1948 |
| 1958 |
Architecture
& Design
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1961 |
For
conjunction and integration of the up to then
existing family companies in the fields of
architecture, construction, fashion- &
industrial design, production & trade, in
1961 Annemarie
Lehner-Schmid -
daughter of Karl Schmid and Emilie Lorenz - and Robert
B. Lehner form the Robert
Lehner OHG in the Viennese
Josefstadt.
The "LE"-Logo with jumping horse with
rider gets the symbol for
"Lehner-Design".
In the branch interior architecture, fashion-
& industrial design our styling-team applies
their relevant exprtise in the field of
prêt-à-porter-fashion, eyewear frames-,
accessories-designs and the development of
stylish furniture trends for a number of notable
manufacturers and brands on a licence basis.
Especially in eyewear-frames production Annemarie
Lehner designs numerous trendy collections since
the 1960ies. Beyond that the company styles the
architecture and interior of a number of private
houses, ware-houses and official buildings.
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1985 |
In
1985 Wolfgang Robert
Lehner, son of Annemarie
und Robert B. Lehner, enters the management of
the family enterprises and as a constructor and
designer develops products and production
technologies in nearly all company branches.
The company-logo of the 60ies and 70ies gets
modified to an "L" with jumping horse.
From the mid 80ies onwards it represents the
common logo for all family-companies. |
Technics &
Avant Garde
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1993 |
In
1993 Annemarie Lehner und Wolfgang Robert Lehner
form the Lecon®
Technische
Konstruktionen und -Design GmbH.
This company´s activities embrace the
development of breaking new patented
constructions and technologies in the fields of
automotive technics, yacht-building,
aerodynamics, ski-construction, architecture,
building material technics, natural stone
technics, process engineering and plant building.
Besides its function as the innovative idea-lab
for our own products Leconte® Engineering
and Leconte® Design
today are international
technology owners for automotive-, building
element-, ski-industry and the design- and
technology background of the family own
production branches.
Additionally, the company embraces the
advertising- & marketing division Leconte®
Communications,
whose capacities going beyond the promotion and
marketing needs of the Lecon®
Group are open for external enterprises on
consulting basis. |
Productions
& Manufactures
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1994 |
In
1994 the sister company Lecon®Produkte
Vertriebs GmbH
was formed for industrial production and
international distribution of products designed
by Lecon Technische Konstruktionen und -Design
GmbH - Made in Austria.
Hence resulting production branches are Trachten
Lorenz 1887™, McFashion™,
Ringstraßenmarmor®, Leconte®Automotive, Leconte®Sportsystems, Leconte®Architecture
Products and since 1994
the division McEyewear®,
the production and manufacture of exclusive
eyewear frames whose internationally most
successful design collections comprise Treasury®
and Kaiserbrille® -
timeless sporty frames with official goldcoins
and goldbars finely embedded in the earpieces.
Our further eyewear labels are Leconte®
und PennySpecs®.
These and further companies of today´s Lecon®
Group combine our resources and enterprises grown
over 150 years establishing effectful synergies
for permanently new product development and
stylish definitions.
Function and aesthetics are representing our main
ressources for development and production of the
best possible and most attractive products for
our customers worldwide being the goal in
implementing our interdisciplinary creativity and
product variety .
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The wheel of
outstanding products of more than 150 years of company
heritage comes full circle again
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2000 |
With
the formation of Lipizzaner®Confiserie
and the worldwide shipment of our Original
Lipizzaner®Torte -
an almond-chocolate-cake manufactured after old
family-recipe of 1850, packed in decorative
wooden gift boxes - our house proudly is looking
back over more than 150 years of family tradition
and commercial heritage.
By way of the newly developed icing out of real
white chocolate the Original
Lipizzaner®Torte
incorporates an uninterchangeable trademark, and
like our tradition-rich company-group is
representinga
piece of Austrian culture & fine culinary
lifestyle.
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2002 |
A new product of Lipizzaner®Confiserie
starts its launch around the world: The Original
Lipizzaner®Ball -
a fine chocolate with white chocolate-icing as
usual for Lipizzaner®Confiserie-Products. The round Piece of
Austria.
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The Lecon
Collection of Contemporary Art
THE Lecon®
COLLECTION |
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2003 |
The Lecon Collection
online premiered in January 2003 with a selection
of works of art from The Lecon Collection's
holdings. Emphasizing on contemporary art, the
collection online encompasses both the classic
and the new as well as the artistic background of
Lecon Designs and Products in the various fields
- from the Lecon's earliest works, through more
recent works, a 2001 graphics-series by Wolf
Roberts - striking a balance that reflects the
dynamic tenor of the institution as a whole.
Changing exhibitions to special themes complete
the online offer. The site also includes additional
information, such as artist biographies, concepts
on art, and suggested readings, all of which form
a searchable database. We added almost 100 works
from the Lehner Private Art Collection, which
will soon be followed by highlights of the Lecon
Design Archive.
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Yours
sincerely,
Annemarie Lehner & Wolfgang R. Lehner
Lecon®Group
Austria
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