On his 80th birthday, 23rd September 1941, Robert Bosch received the honour of "Pioneer of Work" from Adolf Hitler. He also received a doctorate of Medicine from Tubingen University and an Honorary Master's degree from the Deutsche Handwerk Association.
Present technology owes much to Robert Bosch. He contributed to the development of the auto industry. He possessed a wide range of knowledge giving him the necessary requiremnts for the opening of a new age. He was able to, above all, improve all the branches of precision tools so that our motorist traffic could be safer and more convenient. A list of these technical improvements include the Bosch ignition, spark plug, lighting generator, blending apparatus, self-starting motor, oiler, headlights, horn, blinkers. These are only some of the long lasting innovations which need no further explanation. Everyone who sits behind the wheel of a motor car should be aware that he benefits from the prolific career of Robert Bosch. He is under obligation to both the engineer and the man.
We know much about the great modesty of Robert Bosch because he always refused to speak about, or hear of, his career himself. We must though, familiarise the younger generation with the life of this great German. Robert Bosch once said that his success was "due less to his knowledge than to his character". On a separate occassion he underlined "that in life one must be true to oneself". Actually that is one of his main characteristics as seen from his youth on. He was relentless in his devotion to a project once undertaken. Thanks to this, he was able to lead his company to a world spanning success.
Robert Bosch did not merely use his creativity, he was able to solve the largest problems within an invention. He perservered until perfection was reached. Already in 1886 in the Rotebuhlstrasse in Stuttgart, he was able to build an electric light, a telephone and telegraph facilities. He was not only attentive in serving every customer, but also made use of every possibility for improvement. This constant endeavour at "making it better" led Bosch inevitably to new designs. This in turn proved to be his true ambition. "It was always an intolerable thought", he once said about himself, "that someone could prove one of my products to be inferior; therefore I constantly tried to only produce work that passed every test, so to say, the best of the good."
Last but not least, Robert Bosch always strove for the highest level of performance. His name and his work are responsible for the maxim "German quality work" becoming a fixed notion. This secured his further success. Many before him had tried to build, for example, electric ignitions. No one had the same tenacious obstinacy in discovering the answer as he did. Throughout his life he was aware of a Schwabian inborn inclination toward precision work and to perfection.
With success after success, the small "mechanical workshop" became a wide spread factory with a capital of 12 million reichmarks. However, Robert Bosch stayed true to his principles of character. He incorporated constant new products into a large production area of his plant. Nonetheless, he only placed them on the market after months of tests which proved beyond a doubt their quality. "I always followed the principles that it is better to loose money than trust." He was able to say with pride: "The unassailabilty of my pledges, the belief in the quality of my products and my word are placed higher than a transient profit." In these words rest the best explanation for the unsurpassed success of the Bosch factories. If Robert Bosch was to put something new on the market, then it was from the beginning on a tremendous success, from its quality to its value.
That Robert Bosch always regarded it his social duty to help, stood as a tribute to his character. He never forgot his responsibility for, and his duties to, his employees, his followers and the general public. He regularly shared profits gained by technological innovations with those who participated in their creation. Any surplus which he received from his business activities was used for the public good. Robert Bosch, who had been active for 55 years as an engineer and technician was exemplary in his work for progress and performance. He was a business man who worked every day with a goal and a direction. This places Robert Bosch among the finest pioneers of our people.

c.f. Summary translation of the article "Robert Bosch: Pioneer and Master Technician" published in the Motor Schau, Vol 10 1941