A material with future: KALDEWEI

Steel is impressive for its strength, resilience, robustness and ductility. And glass is not only highly resistant to chemical or thermal stress, it looks outstanding too. If you combine the two, the result is fine steel enamel. But it’s not quite as easy as it sounds, of course. Nevertheless, thanks to its courage, entrepreneurial foresight and pioneering spirit, Kaldewei has succeeded in becoming one of the leading international manufacturers of premium showers, baths and washbasins made of steel enamel – a material that’s also extremely eco-friendly because it’s 100% recyclable.

It all started 100 years ago in Ahlen, the Westphalian town where Kaldewei has its headquarters to this very day. This is where, in 1918, Franz Kaldewei founded a tinware factory; eventually, in the early 1930s, his successor Heinrich Kaldewei turned his attention to the bathroom market. Having its own enamelling works and enamel furnace ensured early on that Kaldewei could manufacture its products itself along the entire value chain – from selecting the raw materials for making the enamel and shaping the steel all the way to finishing it with Kaldewei enamel.

And by the way: to this very day, Kaldewei is still the only bathroom manufacturer that produces its own enamel in its own furnace. The formula for Kaldewei enamel was developed by the firm’s own laboratory and has been refined repeatedly over the decades. Even new machinery and manufacturing processes are developed in-house by the company’s engineers. In 1972, Kaldewei became the first industrial enterprise in Germany to deploy robots in serial production. Later, the company developed the fastest and most flexible press lines for bathtubs and shower surfaces.

In addition to its pioneering technological developments, Kaldewei has continuously improved quality and expanded both its service and warranty policies. Design also plays a prominent role at Kaldewei, as illustrated by the more than 150 design awards the company has won over the years. Developments by its own design centre and collaborations with renowned design teams like Studio Aisslinger, Sottsass Associati and Phoenix Design have led to a huge variety of models. In 2008, Franz Kaldewei became the fourth generation to take the helm – and has been guaranteeing the continued existence of the family business in keeping with its founding spirit ever since. His credo: “Learn from the past in order to shape the future.”

Text: BL
Photos: Kaldewei

Franz Kaldewei GmbH & Co. KG
Beckumer Strasse 33–35
59229 Ahlen
Tel.: +49 (0) 2382 7850