Hörmann – Milestones of a family business
Hörmann has been family-owned for four generations. August Hörmann, who already had roots in the craft of door-making and founded the Bielefeld Steel Doors Factory in 1935, was known for his passion for technology and keen eye for quality – characteristics that brought him success. Within a few years, Hörmann became a regional supplier of modern steel doors.
Today, the Hörmann Group is managed by the fourth generation, the great-grandsons of company founder August Hörmann, and is Europe’s leading supplier of doors. The personally liable partners are Martin J. Hörmann and Christoph Hörmann.
A good reputation must be earned.
Founding of the company
In 1935, August Hörmann has the company August Hörmann Bielefelder Stahltüren entered in the commercial registry. His son Hermann becomes co-owner in 1938.
After the untimely death of August Hörmann, his son Hermann Hörmann continues his father’s business and relocates its headquarters to Steinhagen, near Bielefeld.
After the Second World War, Hermann Hörmann puts the company on the path to success. While established manufacturers fail to recognise the signs of the times, Hörmann takes a chance and purchases the rights to the industrial production of a new type of up-and-over garage door from the American Glenn Berry. In 1952, the company launches the first up-and-over garage doors on the market, laying the foundations for the Hörmann of today.
During the period in Germany known as the economic miracle, the innovative up-and-over garage door becomes a bestseller, helping Hörmann rise to become the country’s leading garage door manufacturer.
Thanks to the great success of the up-and-over garage door, the Hörmann factory in Amshausen (Steinhagen) soon reaches its production capacity. In order to expand its product portfolio, Hörmann opens two new factories: Hörmann Genk NV in Belgium and Hörmann KG Freisen in the north-eastern part of Saarland, Germany. The Freisen factory still produces high-quality steel fire-rated doors for the national and international market to this day.
On 1 January 1972, Hörmann KG Verkaufsgesellschaft is founded as an independent unit to provide centralised support to the existing sales activities of the growing company. Hörmann KG Verkaufsgesellschaft in Steinhagen is the current headquarters of the Hörmann Group.
Hörmann’s next trend-setting development, after the up-and-over garage door, is its space-saving, vertically opening sectional doors. To produce these, a new factory is founded in Brockhagen in 1977. This kicks off the industrial production of sectional doors at Hörmann. The Brockhagen factory is still one of the largest factories within the Hörmann Group today.
Following the launch of its up-and-over garage doors and sectional doors, Hörmann continues to steadily expand its product portfolio as it begins production of rolling shutters at its Bielefeld factory. From 1994 onwards, for capacity reasons, the production of rolling shutters is moved to a newly established factory in Dissen, which is still in operation to this day.
With the acquisition of Schörghuber Spezialtüren KG, Hörmann expands its product portfolio to include timber special doors. Schörghuber, which is still the leading supplier in this sector to this day, revolutionised the industry in 1962 with the launch of the first timber fire-rated door.
Thomas J. Hörmann becomes the second majority shareholder of the Hörmann Group, alongside his father Hermann Hörmann. This means that, in addition to managing the factories in Freisen and Eckelhausen, he also assumes responsibility for the entire Hörmann group.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hörmann expands its production capacity by opening Hörmann KG Brandis, a new factory in the new federal state of Saxony. The Brandis factory still produces high-quality steel entrance and function doors for the national and international market to this day.
By founding a new factory in Ichtershausen, Thuringia, Hörmann further expands its production capacity in the field of garage doors. This factory specialises in the production of sectional garage doors and, today, it is the largest Hörmann factory in Germany.
By opening a separated factory for operator technology, Hörmann brings back expertise that had already existed within the company in earlier decades. The original Hörmann operator technology company, with its factory in Marienfeld, had been separated from the company group at the end of 1989. Renamed “Marantec,” this factory had served as Hörmann’s exclusive operator supplier for several years. In 1999, this changes: two years after the new factory is founded, Hörmann begins producing and delivering its own operators.
Hörmann enters the Chinese market with the newly established factory Hörmann Beijing Door Production Co. Ltd. This Beijing-based factory produces fire-rated, multi-purpose and internal doors.
With the acquisition of Seuster KG in Lüdenscheid, Hörmann expands its range of industrial door systems to include high-quality and innovative high-speed doors. To this day, Seuster remains one of the largest producers of high-speed doors, and gained worldwide renown as one of the first suppliers of transparent high-speed doors.
Hörmann establishes its own production location in the USA and enters the American market with Hörmann Inc (now Hörmann Group Amercias), located near Knoxville, Tennessee. Today, garage and industrial sectional doors are manufactured at a total of three locations in the USA.
Following the acquisition of Dutch company DynaSeal B.V. (now Hörmann Alkmaar B.V.), Hörmann is able to offer loading technology for industrial and logistics buildings in addition to its industrial door solutions.
In 1990 and 1992 respectively, Martin J. and Christoph Hörmann join the company. In 2006, they become the fourth Hörmann generation to take the helm of the family business, alongside their father Thomas J. Hörmann, as personally liable partners.
With the acquisition of Tortec Brandschutztor GmbH, the Austrian market leader for fire sliding doors, Hörmann expands its product portfolio once again.
Over the years, Hörmann’s up-and-over garage door has become a bestseller. Around 60 years after launching the product on the market, Hörmann produces its ten millionth up-and-over garage door.
Hörmann acquires the majority shares in Shakti Met-Dor (now Shakti Hörmann Ltd), the market leader for steel fire-rated doors in India. Hörmann is thus strengthening the production and sales of doors and gates for the Indian market.
Hörmann acquires the Gütersloh-based company Huga KG, thus expanding its range of doors to include residential internal doors made from timber and glass for private residential construction.
With the acquisition of Alukon KG Konradsreuth, located near Hof, Hörmann enters the market for sun and insect screen systems. With Alukon on board, Hörmann sees steady growth in this sector and, in 2016, further expands its sun shading division with the acquisition of Schlotterer rollcom (now Alukon KG Haigerloch).
The Hörmann Forum is opened at the company headquarters in Steinhagen. It covers three floors and offers over 2500 m² of exhibition space. The Forum is not only the world’s largest showroom, but also Hörmann’s central seminar and event centre. Equipped with practical seminar and conference rooms featuring the latest technology, this facility offers an ideal learning environment for employees and clients alike
Hörmann enters the market for perimeter protection systems. With the acquisition of the Italian company Pilomat, Hörmann expands its product range to include bollards, road blockers and tyre killers.
Hörmann acquires the Canadian company TNR Industrial Doors Inc., a manufacturer of solid rubber high-speed doors, rolling shutters and special doors, thus expanding its international business activities in the field of industrial doors.
With the acquisition of Hermann Automation GmbH (now Hörmann KG Mengerskirchen), Hörmann expands its newly established business area of perimeter protection systems and now also offers parking management systems in the form of barriers and parking facility systems.
Hörmann expands its product portfolio to include storage space systems and now also offers metal tool sheds and firewood racks. Both products are 100% CO2-neutral, as Hörmann uses green electricity throughout the production process and offsets the remaining emissions by supporting climate protection projects in cooperation with ClimatePartner.
With the acquisition of Lebo GmbH, a long-established manufacturer of wooden interior doors based in Bocholt, Hörmann is expanding its product portfolio in the residential door sector.
As a family business, Hörmann is very conscious of it's responsibility to future generations and offer CO2-neutral doors as part of a campaign. Hörmann uses 100% green electricity in the production of campaign products and offsets the remaining emissions by supporting climate protection projects in cooperation with ClimatePartner. All European production locations cover their total energy demand using 100% genuine green electricity.
Hörmann KG Verkaufsgesellschaft celebrates its 50th anniversary and, as the central sales unit of the Hörmann Group, now supports and coordinates more than 100 company-owned sales locations in over 40 countries.
Hörmann supplies all its products for residential construction in a CO2-neutral version as standard, including garage doors, operators, entrance and residential internal doors, and storage space systems. In addition, products for construction projects, such as industrial doors, loading technology, construction project doors and perimeter protection systems, are also available in Germany as CO2-neutral products upon customer request.
The integration of Neuform-Türenwerk Hans Glock GmbH & Co. KG strengthens the Hörmann Group's position in the commercial wood door business. Neuformtür specializes in modern interior doors, custom-made products, and security doors with fire and smoke protection.
It is with deep regret that we bid farewell to our senior partner Thomas J. Hörmann, a family entrepreneur who was characterised by his down-to-earth attitude, his exceptional expertise and his joy in creating. His outstanding personality was characterised by human warmth, a high sense of responsibility, entrepreneurial vision and a fine sense of humour. With his exemplary motivation and admirable energy into old age, he led our group of companies to its current international significance. Thomas J. Hörmann's life's work will remain a role model, an incentive and an obligation for us.
His sons Martin J. and Christoph Hörmann are continuing to run the company in the fourth generation with the highest recognition and gratitude for his work and endeavours.
With the acquisition of Austrian company Holler Tore GmbH, a specialist in high-quality aluminum sliding doors and fences, Hörmann is expanding its expertise in the field of door solutions for industrial and private applications.
A family business in Europe and the world
Today, the Hörmann Group is Europe’s leading supplier of doors. More than 6000 employees work in over 40 specialised factories in Europe, North America and Asia to develop and produce high-quality doors, frames and operators, as well as perimeter protection and storage space systems, for private and commercial use. The headquarters of the globally active Hörmann Group is located in the East Westphalian municipality of Steinhagen, near Bielefeld, Germany. This company, which is family-run, recently recorded an annual turnover of more than 1 billion euros.
