History

Historie

1857
The "Nassauische Rheinhütte Gesellschaft" is founded as a blast furnace works.
1861 Conversion of the blast furnace works into an iron foundry
1869 The "Rheinhütte Gesellschaft" is taken over by Professor Ludwig Beck. Beck, born on 10th June 1841 in Darmstadt is a steelworks specialist. He doesn't only excel as a successful scientist however, but also shows himself to be a pioneer in the social field. Even before Bismarck's social legislation he introduces company sickness and old age provision. The workforce of the "Rheinhütte Ludwig Beck and Co.", as the company is now called, grows quickly. The focal point of production is now on the manufacture of cast parts, their machining and general mechanical engineering.
1882 Rheinhütte casts machine and pipe parts for the nearby Kalle and Albert chemical factories and also for the cement manufacturer Dyckerhoff.
1899 Vieweg technical publishers bring out the "The Story of Iron" by Professor Ludwig Beck in five volumes. His major literary work is still used as a standard work throughout the world today.
1900 Start of the development of corrosion resistant metallic materials.
1909 Manufacture for the first time of acid resistant silicon cast-iron with a high Si content. Even nowadays this material is the first choice for many applications. This year Dipl.-Ing Wilhelm Beck, born on 16th May 1881 in Wiesbaden Biebrich, takes over management of the company from his father and pushes forward with further expansion and the modernisation of the mechanical workshops. Rheinhütte withstands the difficult years of the First World War thanks to countless new developments, as by the end of the war only has 125 employees remaining.
1918 On 23rd July Professor Ludwig Beck dies.
1920 Rheinhütte develops the first cement slurry pumps.
1924 The glandless hydrodynamically sealed centrifugal chemical pump is developed and originated at Rheinhütte.
1925 The first chemical pumps made of cast silicon iron are built and used.
From this year onwards, in an unbroken sequence, Rheinhütte has presented its products at ACHEMA, the world's largest exhibition for the trade.
1932 Development and manufacture of the first Rheinhütte chemical valves.
Meanwhile in Rheinhütte pumps are being manufactured from silicon iron, grey iron, gunmetal and steel castings, from stainless steel, bronzes and hard lead.
1944 Wilhelm Beck also guides the story of the company during the Second World War. As the brother of Colonel General Ludwig Beck, born on the 29th June, 1880 in Wiesbaden Biebrich, he is taken to Sippenhaft immediately after the assassination attempt of 20th July 1944. Ludwig Beck was a leading member of the resistance to Hitler and after a successful putsch was scheduled to be head of state; he died in evening of the 20th July.
1945 The complete dismantling of Rheinhütte. The Allied Commission however soon permitted rebuilding.
1950 The mercurial development of the chemical industry worldwide causes Rheinhütte to build up an international sales organisation.
1963 Wilhelm Beck dies on the 10th July. The management of Rheinhütte is taken over by his only son Dipl.-Ing Walter Beck.
1970 Commissioning of a modern stainless steel foundry. At the same time new research laboratories and an independent quality assurance authority is established.
1978 Thanks to participation in VKP Vereinigte Kunststoff Pumpen GmbH in Rennerod the delivery range is expanded with this product branch.
1988 The Friedrichsfeld group, today FRIATEC AG, takes over Rheinhütte and ensures the existence of what up to now has been a family concern. In the period that followed the economic strength of Rheinhütte is considerably increased by concentration on the core business, the building of chemical pumps, and also by the relocation of the foundry to Portugal. With the transfer of the Friedrichsfeld ceramic pump range, the oldest range of chemical pumps in the world, Rheinhütte gained new technological impetus on the Wiesbaden site.
1993 Opening of the first Service-Centre in Wiesbaden.
1994 Certification to DIN ISO 9001 takes place.
1998 Takeover of FRIATEC AG by the English Glynwed, a member of the Glynwed Pipe Systems Group.
2001 Glynwed Pipe Systems is taken over by the Belgian Etex Group.
2003 The ETEX Group is restructured. The company divisions Technical Plastics, Technical Ceramics and Mechanical Engineering will a new name: Aliaxis. This gives rise to an international group of companies, with 12,000 employees in 88 companies, which is present in a total of 37 countries covering all continents.
2007 150th Anniversary of the Rheinhütte Company