Company History

  • 1811
    Establishment of a mechanical workshop by Johann Dinnendahl

  • 1820
    Installation of an “iron smelt” for the manufacture of cast machine components

  • 1831
    Johann Dinnendahl takes on Friedrich Wilhelm Liebrecht as a partner, after whom the company is named

  • 1848/49
    Commencement of pig iron manufacture in a coke-fired blast furnace

  • 1852
    Transformation of the company into a public limited company bearing the name Bergwerks-Verein Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte

  • 1862
    Establishment of a pipe foundry with subsequent gradual expansion for the manufacture of pipes with maximum diameters of 1.20 metres and up to 4 metres in length

  • 1905
    “Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte” is incorporated in the “Deutsch-Luxemburgische Bergwerks- und Hütten AG”

  • 1907
    The first steel casting foundry is put into operation

  • 1926
    The “Deutsch-Luxemburgische Bergwerks- und Hütten AG” is incorporated in the “Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG”

  • 1948
    Following decartelisation of the “Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG”, the “Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte” merges with “Gießerei Hüttenbetrieb Meiderich” to form “Eisenwerke Mülheim/Meiderich AG”

  • 1950-1962
    Additional blast furnaces are built as well as a cement plant

  • 1963
    “Rheinstahl Eisenwerke Mülheim/Meiderich AG”, “Schalker Verein” and “Ruhrstahl AG” merge to become “Rheinstahl Hüttenwerke AG”

  • 1963-1968
    Restructuring within the Rheinstahl Group of Companies leads to discontinuation of blast furnace operation including its premises and the cement plant. A steel casting foundry (hand-moulded cast iron) is also closed. Relocation of production of hand-moulded foundry goods from the Duisburg-Wanheim and Hattingen foundries to Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte as well as ingot moulds to the Meiderich foundry

  • 1976
    The company changes its name to “Thyssen Gießerei AG, Werk Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte” (in the wake of a takeover of the Rheinstahl Group by “August Thyssen-Hütte AG” in 1973)

  • 1998
    “Thyssen Umformtechnik GmbH” and “Thyssen Guss AG” (since 1984) divisions are merged as “Thyssen Umformtechnik Guss GmbH”

  • 2001
    “Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte GmbH” becomes an independent company in the area of cast iron at “Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH”

  • 2006
    The two companies Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte Eisenguss GmbH and FWH Stahlguss GmbH ensue from Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte GmbH

  • 2011
    Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte celebrates 200 years of business

  • 2023
    FWH Stahlguss becomes a 100% subsidiary of KNDS.
    KNDS emerged from the merger of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter, two of the leading European manufacturers of military land systems based in Germany and France.