Schuler's Erfurt location celebrates 125th anniversary

Schuler’s press manufacturing location in Erfurt, Germany, is marking its 125th year in business. The original Berlin-Erfurter Maschinenfabrik Henry Pels & Co. was delivering products to the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Argentina by the early 20th century, and in 1929 added press brakes, spindle presses, and forging presses to its line of shears and punches.

After the Second World War, the plant became the property first of the Soviet Union and then of the GDR. From 1954, the nationally owned enterprise, known as Schwermaschinenbau Henry Pels Erfurt, produced eccentric, crank, embossing, and spotting presses. In 1970, the name changed to Kombinat Umformtechnik Erfurt, which also included the die makers Formenbau Schwarzenberg and Auer Werkzeugbau.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Kombinat was transformed into a limited liability company in 1990 and privatized in 1994. In 2001, it was acquired by press manufacturer Müller Weingarten AG, which in turn was acquired by Schuler in 2007.