THE HISTORY

100 years of Meissner

Flexibility is our daily business – and has been for over 100 years.

On October 1, 1922 Theodor Meissner and Georg Müller founded the “Modell- und Maschinenfabrik Meissner u. Co. GmbH” in Wolzhausen for the production of models for sewing machine parts and ovens. The existing capacities were soon no longer sufficient, so that the steadily growing company acquired the sawmill and the railway station restaurant in Wallau in 1925 and moved to the new location the following year.

In 1931, an order for the production of a model device for tractor engines from the Russian Trade Mission in Berlin enabled Meissner to enter the automotive industry as a supplier, a field in which it is still active today. In 1934, the founder Georg Müller left the company and founded his own model-making enterprise. He was replaced by Fritz Krämer, who also left in 1942 to found his own company “Krämer und Grebe” in Wallau. In 1935, the Limited Company was converted into a general partnership and the product range was expanded to include the manufacture of models for the aircraft industry. Due to the 1937 takeover of the “Lettermannwerk Ludwigshütte”, which produced butchery machines, Meissner set up his own butchery machine factory in 1942. After the factory premises were hit twice by aerial bombs during the Second World War and severely damaged, the company temporarily relocated production to neighbouring plants.

After the end of the war, Meissner went through difficult times due to the collapse of the vehicle and aircraft industries. Until a production permit for the manufacture of modelling equipment and butchery machines was available in 1947, the company kept its head above water by manufacturing household chopping machines, aluminium bowls, circular saws and slurry pumps. With the recovery of the economy, the automotive industry could once again be won as a customer. Between 1956 and 1987, the company was repeatedly rebuilt and new buildings were erected for the individual business units. In 1991, the “Meissner GmbH und Co. KG Nahrungsmittelmaschinen” (butchery machines) was spun off, which was sold again in 1994. On September 30, 1994 Meissner filed for receivership. One year later, the special machine construction division was closed down.

From 1997, the company was continued as a public limited company. The majority of the shares are still owned by the employees today. The main business to this day is the production of tools for the foundry industry, blow moulds and tools für car trim-parts. In order to be able to operate better internationally, a joint venture has  set up in China with the company “KPMC” since 2012. In 2015, an own service department was founded, which is available 24/7 for the repair and maintenance of customer tools.

With its entry into 3D printing in 2019 and the establishment of a department for automation equipment in 2020, Meissner AG offers individual solutions for a wide range of applications. These innovative technologies and the return to the food industry through the entry into vertical farming pave the way to a sustainable future that Meissner AG is actively shaping – for at least the next 100 years.