More than 150 years of experience and success in the industry
The company FRANZ DÜRHOLDT GmbH & Co. KG was founded on 17 June 1873 by Franz Dürholdt as a non-ferrous metal foundry in Wuppertal-Barmen. Initially, customers in the local area were supplied with red brass, brass and bronze castings. The business grows.
Fritz Dürholdt senior takes over the commercial and administrative management in 1911 and leads the company through the First World War.
Fritz Dürholdt senior recruits his brother Emil Dürholdt to work at his side and hands over the technical and operative management to him. The development period of the first company-owned DÜRHOLDT industrial valve begins.
The first in-house development of a DÜRHOLDT industrial valve, the hose diaphragm valve, is patented in the early 1920s, more than 100 years ago.
The Dürholdt brothers lead the company through the difficult times of the Second World War. Not a single employee is dismissed.
Three years after the end of the Second World War, the company was suddenly and unexpectedly threatened with extinction. After the war, the occupying forces dismantled the company's entire inventory down to the last screw. The brothers were left with nothing.
Not a month passed. In the same year as the dismantling, Fritz Dürholdt senior, at the advanced age of 70, begins to rebuild the company. Together with his brother and with a turning lathe borrowed from a customer.
After years of training, the son of the courageous entrepreneur Fritz Dürholdt senior, Fritz Dürholdt junior, takes over the business of today's FRANZ DÜRHOLDT GmbH & Co. KG. He leads the company into and through the years of the economic miracle.
Fritz Dürholdt jun. develops and patents the hose pinch valve in the bulbous shape and carries on the success story of the DÜRHOLDT brand with his own production.
The daughters of Fritz Dürholdt Jr, Sigrid and Vera Dürholdt, join the company. Sigrid Dürholdt marries Jürgen Schievelbusch. Jürgen Schievelbusch leads the company, initially as an authorised signatory and later as Managing Director, and develops the company into a premium manufacturer and full-range distributor of industrial fittings over a period of 52 years.
FRANZ DÜRHOLDT GmbH & Co. KG, in the person of Jürgen Schievelbusch, develops the still up-to-date, efficient and elliptical body shape of the pinch valve in all nominal sizes from DN 20 to DN 200 as well as the modular cone flange system.
The company is certified for the first time in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001 and the former Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EG.
Karsten Schievelbusch joins the company as a partner and becomes Managing Partner of FRANZ DÜRHOLDT GmbH & Co. KG.
The company is recertified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008.
The product groups of hose-diaphragm valves and hose pinch valves developed in-house are certified in accordance with the new Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU.
FRANZ DÜRHOLDT GmbH & Co. KG leaves the original site in Friedrich-Engels-Allee after more than 100 years and moves into the new factory buildings with optimised production processes and the administration section at Regentenstraße 69, 42389 Wuppertal.
The company is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015.
FRANZ DÜRHOLDT GmbH & Co. KG acquires and takes over the business and production of the Wuppertal-based brand BK-ARMATUREN. The company thus expands its production by four additional product groups with butterfly valves, throttle valves, gate valves and ball valves as well as the extensive automation technology in special fittings construction.
With the acquisition of the BK ARMATUREN brand, certification according to SIL IEC 61508:2010 takes place.
In addition to the core brands of the industrial fittings world DÜRHOLDT and BK-ARMATUREN, the company is expanding its business activities to include the occupational safety and environmental protection sector with the brand SORB XT.
FRANZ DÜRHOLDT GmbH & Co. KG is preparing the launch of a new brand in the industrial valves segment ..