Benedikt Ketterer Söhne

Benedikt Ketterer Söhne GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer based in Furtwangen in the Black Forest region of Baden-Württemberg. The company was founded in the 1840s by Benedikt Ketterer, initially as a maker of Black Forest clocks and later of gas and water meters. Over the 20th century it evolved into a specialist in electric drive technology. Today, under the brand Ketterer Antriebe, it develops and produces customer-specific drive solutions for office and workshop workstations, shading systems, building technology, and industrial applications including automated guided vehicles (AGVs), conveyor technology, and plant and machinery engineering. The company's product portfolio is organized into four main areas: Ergonomie Professional (drives for height-adjustable desks and workstations in offices, workshops, laboratories, and school furniture), Ergonomie Home & Care (drives for hospital, care, rehabilitation, and disability applications as well as residential and kitchen furniture), Building Drives (drives for building and plaza shading, windows, doors, gates, and movable partitions), and Industrial Drives (drives for warehouse and transport logistics, plant and machinery engineering, and AGVs). A recent product line, KET-LIFT, offers manual and electric lifting aids for manufacturing, workshops, and home use, including the KET-LIFT4BOX electric crate lifter for KLT containers and industrial bins. Ketterer Antriebe emphasizes customized, application-specific drive solutions and has built a reputation as a problem solver in niche industrial segments. The company remains privately held as a GmbH & Co. KG and is headquartered at its historic site in Furtwangen, where it has operated for over a quarter of a century in its current drive-technology form and for more than 175 years since its founding.

Benedikt Ketterer Söhne GmbH & Co. KG is a German company based in Furtwangen, Baden-Württemberg, with a history dating back to the 1840s. Its founder, Benedikt Ketterer (1805–1871), came from Langenbach and first appeared in Furtwangen in the early 1840s as a clock packer, buying small quantities of clocks from local clockmakers and selling them on, especially to dealers in England. In 1845 he registered as a taxable tradesman under the designation 'wooden clock maker' and acquired a double house on today's Bregstraße, where he set up a mechanical workshop with several water-powered machines. The company produced Black Forest clocks before increasingly turning from the 1850s to the production of gas meters. Until about 1880, mainly spring-driven regulators left the Ketterer factory. Benedikt Ketterer's eldest son, Felix (1847–1911), took over the business from 1871, initially together with his mother Klara, and expanded regulator production. In the early 1870s he set up a second workshop in a house on the Straßberg, used among other things for making regulators. In 1874 Felix Ketterer hired 35 new workers; the two operations together, by then called Benedikt Ketterer Söhne, employed 100 workers and apprentices and produced on a division-of-labour basis. In 1873, under Felix Ketterer, the clockmaking department merged with several smaller companies to form the 'Uhrenfabrik Furtwangen', later known as Baduf. By 1890 the actual clock production at Ketterer had ended. The company's focus had long since shifted to clock-related products, namely gas and water meters. This was new territory not only for Furtwangen but for the entire Black Forest industry. In the first half of the 19th century the first gasworks had emerged in larger cities, producing and distributing coal gas for street lighting. After mid-century, businesses and households gradually connected to the public gas network, and demand for gas meters grew rapidly. Efforts to introduce their manufacture in the Black Forest initially failed, although demand for gas meters rose enormously. From 1851 Benedikt Ketterer devoted himself to this promising business. The following year, 20 gas meters from his workshop were in use in Freiburg, where the first gasworks had been established in 1850. For introducing the new industry to the Black Forest, the Baden Ministry of the Interior awarded him a silver medal for the promotion of agriculture, trade, and commerce. Some decades later, Felix Ketterer also had water meters made, and from about 1900 additionally electricity meters. Municipal waterworks throughout the German Empire ordered various meters from the 'Erste Badische Wassermesserfabrik', as the company on the Breg now called itself, including the 'Ketterer-Flügelrad-Wassermesser', available as a dry or wet meter. Toward the end of the 19th century the first coin-operated gas meters appeared in apartments. Benedikt Ketterer Söhne developed various switching devices for such automats and in 1912 brought the 'self-collecting gas seller' to market under patent number 250800. After some years the capacity of a water motor was no longer sufficient to power the factory machines. In 1890 Felix Ketterer acquired the 'Rote Mühle' at the fork to the Katzensteig and had a turbine house built there. About 1,100 metres of electric line had to be laid to the workshops on Bregstraße. However, there was little experience in the region with building and operating overhead lines; the Baden authorities initially considered the planned installation very dangerous. Wires were strung from the mill over the hill at the cemetery to Bregstraße, held by 27 poles. In autumn 1890 the connected machines 'really set themselves in motion, and the workshops shone in the brightest electric light'. In 1898, when Benedikt Ketterer und Söhne with 142 employees was among the five largest operations in Furtwangen, the present factory building was constructed. Here a mobile steam engine, a locomobile, and later a stationary 100-hp steam engine powered several hundred work machines. From 1893 the company benefited from the railway connection to Donaueschingen; wagons with raw materials stopped directly at the factory door. For the crucible foundry set up in a separate building in 1896, Ruhr coke was obtained from a dealer in Ludwigshafen. Every Tuesday was casting day. Among other things, the company made wheels, nuts, and spindles from brass and bronze. After 1911, Oskar Ketterer led the company together with his brother-in-law Ernst Hepting. Later Emil Jäger, also a brother-in-law of Ketterer and head of the Furtwangen clockmaking school from 1923 to 1946, became managing director. Over the 20th century the company transitioned from meter manufacturing to electric drive technology. In its current form, Ketterer Antriebe has offered customer-specific drive solutions for a quarter of a century, serving office and workshop workstations, shading systems, building technology, automated guided vehicles, conveyor technology, and plant and machinery engineering.

• 1912

  The 'self-collecting gas seller' is brought to market under patent number 250800.

• 1911

  Oskar Ketterer leads the company together with his brother-in-law Ernst Hepting.

• 1898

  The present factory building is constructed; the company has 142 employees and is among Furtwangen's five largest operations.

• 1896

  A crucible foundry is set up in a separate building.

• 1893

  The company benefits from the railway connection to Donaueschingen.

• 1890

  Clock production ends; Felix Ketterer acquires the 'Rote Mühle' and builds a turbine house for electric power.

• 1874

  Felix Ketterer hires 35 new workers; the company employs 100 workers and apprentices.

• 1873

  The clockmaking department merges with smaller companies to form 'Uhrenfabrik Furtwangen', later Baduf.

• 1871

  Felix Ketterer takes over the business, initially with his mother Klara.

• 1851

  Benedikt Ketterer begins devoting himself to the manufacture of gas meters.

• 1845

  Benedikt Ketterer registers as a taxable tradesman in Furtwangen as a 'wooden clock maker' and acquires a double house on Bregstraße.

Specialist and problem solver for customer-specific drive solutions in ergonomics, building technology, and industrial automation.

• Ergonomie Professional

  Innovative drive solutions for height-adjustable workstations in offices, workshops, laboratories, school furniture, and other applications.

• Ergonomie Home & Care

  Innovative drive solutions for hospital, care, rehabilitation, and disability applications as well as residential and kitchen furniture.

• Building Drives

  Innovative drive solutions for shading of buildings and plazas as well as for windows, doors, gates, and movable partitions.

• Industrial Drives

  Innovative drive solutions for warehouse and transport logistics, plant and machinery engineering, and automated guided vehicles (AGVs).

• KET-LIFT

  Smart manual and electric lifting aids for manufacturing, workshops, and home use.

• KET-LIFT4BOX

  Compact, powerful, and easy-to-operate electric crate lifter for KLT containers, blister packs, and other industrial bins.

1. 1Ketterer Antriebe official websiteketterer.de
2. 2Benedikt Ketterer Söhne – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Benedikt Ketterer Söhne – Wikidatawikidata.org