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= Johannes C.A. Croning = Johannes Carl Adolf Croning was born on May 22, 1886, in Hamburg as the son of a tradesman. He is widely regarded as the inventor of the shell moulding process. As a technically interested young man, Johannes Croning served his apprenticeship in a Hamburg machine and fitting works to which also belonged a metal foundry. He went to mechanical engineering school in Altona, worked as a designer for a shipyard, as a sales engineer for electrical car equipment, and served in the Navy. After the First World War, he designed and built machines for the manufacturing of cylinder locks, based on his own patents. Selling these patents to the USA enabled him to start his own company, “Croning-Schloß AG” that also included a foundry. In 1929, Johannes Croning sold his shares in the locks factory to concentrate fully on his work as an inventor.

He installed a laboratory in his residential house in Hamburg-Nienstedten. During the eight years following, he carried out research on the application of high-frequency technology for the melting and pouring of metals, for which he received several patents between 1932 and 1936.

When his entire capital and a loan had been spent on these trials, he founded Croning & Co. on October 1, 1937, as a patent exploitation company and "Mikroforma Giesserei Gesellschaft" Johannes Croning to earn money for further developments. Until his death, Johannes Croning was Managing Director of both companies. He continued with his inventions in the rooms of an old accumulator magazine of the Hamburg Electric Works where he installed a high-frequency plant and a crucible furnace. Based on his knowledge of high-frequency technology, Johannes Croning tried to develop a permanent mould made of ceramic material, which finally led him to invent the shell moulding process in 1944.

Johannes Croning’s inventions and patents awakened the interest of the Allied forces. Members of an “American Industrial Intelligence Team” visited Johannes Croning, on his then premises as early as on April 24 and 25, 1947.

The complete report, FIAT Final Report No. 1168 dated May, 30, 1947, and entitled “The “C” Process of Making Molds and Cores for Foundry Use”, was issued by the Office of Military Goverment for Germany (US), Author William W. McCulloch, Technical Industrial Intelligence Division U.S. Department of Commerce, and contains six pages of detailed information by Johannes Croning about his inventions.

The complete report, FIAT Final Report No. 1168 dated May, 30, 1947, and entitled “The “C” Process of Making Molds and Cores for Foundry Use”, was issued by the Office of Military Goverment for Germany (US), Author William W. McCulloch, Technical Industrial Intelligence Division U.S. Department of Commerce, and contains six pages of detailed information by Johannes Croning about his inventions.

After the end of World War II, he continued with his developments in Hamburg, and further patents for an improved shell moulding process were to follow. The first licensees, Eisengießerei Adolf Hottinger oHG (1947) and DEW Deutsche Edelstahlwerke AG (1948), also paid royalties. The money enabled Mikroforma Giesserei Gesellschaft to move from the HEW accumulator magazine to 2 Borselstraße in Hamburg’s district of Altona. As a foundry school and test and customer foundry for bronze casting and, later on, for special steel casting, especially water meter housings, pumps and accessories, the economic foundations were laid for a continuation of the development work.

In parallel with the casting activities, the development of machine technology for the shell moulding process was spurred on, which from 1950 on led to the construction of fully operational machines. The huge interest of the American foundry industry in the novel German moulding process became obvious in 1952 during the foundry exhibition in Atlanta City, on the occasion of the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Foundrymen’s Society, where the new technology was one of the highlights of the exhibition [5]. At GIFA 1956, the shell moulding process was presented in great detail [6]. The committee of the international foundry associations appreciated Johannes Croning’s developments by presenting him an Honour Award. On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Johannes Croning was honoured with the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, by the German Federal President in recognition of his services [1, 7]. Shortly before he died, Johannes Croning was awarded the John A. Penton gold medal by the American Foundrymen’s Society. Johannes Croning died suddenly and unexpectedly in Hamburg on May 12, 1957. In 1958, the shell moulding process was presented during the world exhibition in Brussels with the support of the Federal Republic of Germany. One of the first shell moulding machines designed by Johannes Croning and the first steel fittings cast with the shell moulding process were part of the exhibition of the German Museum in Munich. In 1958, at the request of the German Foundrymen’s Association (VDG), a street was named after Johannes Croning with a resolution of the municipality of Wedel [8] (Croningstraße, D-22880 Wedel). The companies Croning & Co. and Mikroforma Giesserei Gesellschaft stopped their business activities at the Wedel site on December 31, 1993.