Editing MAN SE (section)

===Foundation===
{{More citations needed|subsection|date=March 2019}}

MAN traces its origins back to 1758, when the "St. Antony" ironworks commenced operation in [[Oberhausen]], as the first heavy-industry enterprise in the [[Ruhr]] region. In 1808, the three ironworks "St. Antony", "Gute Hoffnung" (English: "Good Hope"), and "Neue Essen" (English: "New Forges") merged, to form the Hüttengewerkschaft und Handlung Jacobi (English: "Jacobi Iron And Steel Works Union And Trading Company"), Oberhausen, which was later renamed Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH).<ref name=MAN_history/>

In 1840,  German engineer Ludwig Sander founded in [[Augsburg]] the first predecessor enterprise of MAN in Southern Germany: the "Sander'sche Maschinenfabrik".  It firstly became the "C. Reichenbach'sche Maschinenfabrik", which was named after the pioneer of printing machines Carl August Reichenbach, and later on the "Maschinenfabrik Augsburg".<ref name=MAN_history/>
The branch ''Süddeutsche Brückenbau A.G.'' (MAN-Werk Gustavsburg) was founded when the company in 1859 was awarded the contract for the construction of the railway bridge over the [[Rhine]] at [[Mainz]].

In 1898, the companies ''Maschinenbau-AG [[Nuremberg|Nürnberg]]'' (founded 1841) and ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg AG'' (founded 1840) merged to form ''Vereinigte Maschinenfabrik Augsburg und Maschinenbaugesellschaft Nürnberg A.G., Augsburg'' ("United Machine Works Augsburg and Nuremberg Ltd.").  In 1908, the company was renamed ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg Nürnberg AG'', or in short, M·A·N.

While the focus initially remained on ore mining and iron production in the [[Ruhr region]], mechanical engineering became the dominating branch of business in Augsburg and Nuremberg.  Under the direction of Heinrich von Buz, ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg'' grew from a medium-sized business of 400 employees into a major enterprise with a workforce of 12,000 by 1913.

Locomotion, propulsion, and steel building were the big components of this phase. The early predecessors of MAN were responsible for numerous technological innovations.  The success of the early MAN entrepreneurs and engineers such as [[Heinrich Gerber (civil engineer)|Heinrich Gerber]], was based on a great openness towards new technologies. They constructed the Wuppertal monorail ("[[Wuppertal Schwebebahn|Wuppertaler Schwebebahn]]") and the first spectacular steel bridges such as the Großhesseloher Brücke in [[Munich]] in 1857 and the [[Müngsten Bridge|Müngsten railway bridge]] between 1893 and 1897.

The invention of the rotary printing press allowed the copious printing of books and newspapers, and since 1893, [[Rudolf Diesel]] puzzled for four years with future MAN engineers in a laboratory in [[Augsburg]] until his first [[diesel engine]] was completed and fully functional.

During 1921, the majority of MAN was taken over by the Gutehoffnungshütte Actienverein für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb, Sterkrade (GHH), (founded 1873).<ref name=MAN_history/>
Through well-directed equities and acquisitions of processing industries, e.g., Deutsche Werft (1918), Ferrostaal (1921), Deggendorfer Werft und Eisenbau (1924), MAN advanced to a nationwide operating enterprise, with a workforce of 52,000 by 1921. MAN also produced tractors by the name MAN Ackerdiesel (1938-1962). The decision for tractor production was made due to increasing demand from eastern Germany.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:MAN 1914.JPG|Share of the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG, issued 10 March 1914
Image:St Antony.jpg|St. Antony
Image:Wuppertaler Schwebebahn c1913 LOC 03961u.jpg|[[Wuppertal Suspension Railway|Suspension railway in Wuppertal]], Germany, construction MAN-Werk Gustavsburg
Image:Second prototype of the Diesel engine (1894), 2.jpg|Rudolf Diesel's first engine
</gallery>