Koenig & Bauer
A German manufacturer of printing presses and printing systems with roots extending back to 1817.
Last updated August 21, 2026
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Overview
Koenig & Bauer is a German printing-press manufacturer headquartered in Würzburg and one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the printing-equipment industry. Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer established the business in 1817 after developing mechanized presses in England. Their work helped move commercial printing away from reliance on manually operated screw presses and toward industrial production using powered, high-speed equipment. The company subsequently became associated with large-format, high-volume and specialist printing machinery. During the twentieth century, Koenig & Bauer developed a particularly strong position in security printing. Its equipment has been used for demanding applications such as banknote production, where precise intaglio, numbering, inspection and multicolor printing capabilities are important. The company’s security-printing activities later included Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions, and the company has stated that a very large proportion of the world’s banknotes are printed on equipment supplied by that division. The company’s historical development in this field was shaped significantly by its relationship with the Italian printer and inventor Gualtiero Giori. Koenig & Bauer’s product scope now extends beyond traditional commercial presses. Its portfolio includes sheetfed offset presses for commercial and packaging work, web and industrial printing systems, digital printing solutions, flexographic equipment, and specialized systems for security and value-document production. The Rapida family is associated with high-performance sheetfed offset printing, while VariJET represents the company’s digital packaging-printing activities. Depending on the application, its systems may be supplied as individual presses or as parts of broader production lines that include feeding, coating, drying, inspection, finishing and workflow technology. The company serves packaging producers, commercial printers, publishers, industrial manufacturers, security printers and other organizations requiring high-throughput or specialized print production. Packaging has become an important area because folding cartons, labels, corrugated materials and other printed packaging require a combination of productivity, color control, substrate flexibility and automation. Security printing remains another distinctive area, with equipment designed for banknotes, passports and other protected documents. Koenig & Bauer operates internationally through sales, service and production activities connected with its product divisions. Its competitive positioning is based on engineering heritage, press productivity, application-specific technology and the ability to support complex printing operations. Like other capital-goods manufacturers, it is affected by investment cycles in the printing industry, changes in media consumption, packaging demand, regulation and the adoption of digital production methods. The company therefore combines established offset and intaglio technologies with digital, flexographic, automation and workflow capabilities. The historical brand name is commonly shortened to KBA, although the company has used Koenig & Bauer as its principal corporate identity. Its longevity, continuing role in industrial printing and specialist position in security-printing equipment distinguish it from consumer-facing print brands and from commercial printing-service providers.
History
Koenig & Bauer traces its origins to the work of Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, who developed mechanized printing presses in England before returning to Germany. They founded the company in Würzburg in 1817. The new enterprise helped establish powered press manufacturing as an industrial activity, offering substantially greater productivity than traditional hand-operated screw presses. Its early machines were designed for the growing demand for newspapers, books and other printed materials. By the twentieth century, Koenig & Bauer had become a major printing-machine producer and a leading supplier of equipment for security printing. The company’s historical significance lies not only in its age but also in its involvement in the transition from manually operated presses to mechanized and high-speed production. Its equipment portfolio evolved as printing customers required larger formats, faster production, improved registration and more specialized processes. A significant strategic challenge emerged in 1951, when company chairman Hans Bolza confronted the age of some existing machine designs, including models whose basic concepts dated from the early 1920s. Rather than relying solely on established designs, Bolza pursued cooperation with Gualtiero Giori, an Italian printer and inventor based in Lausanne who had made important advances in intaglio printing. Their relationship produced an agreement in 1952. A longer-term arrangement followed in 1958: Koenig & Bauer gave up its distribution rights for Giori equipment, including in Germany, while obtaining exclusive manufacturing rights. The arrangement created a durable and commercially important association between the two businesses. The Giori relationship strengthened Koenig & Bauer’s role in specialist security printing, particularly in technologies used for banknotes and other protected documents. After Gualtiero Giori’s death, Koenig & Bauer acquired his company, Giori SA, in 2001. Part of that business was subsequently renamed KBA Giori, integrating the acquired expertise into the group’s security-printing activities. Over time, Koenig & Bauer expanded beyond its historical press technologies. The company developed and marketed equipment for sheetfed offset, web and industrial applications, as well as systems for packaging, commercial printing and digital production. Flexographic and digital technologies became increasingly relevant as customers sought solutions for packaging substrates, shorter production runs, versioning, automation and integration with modern production workflows. The Rapida family became a major part of its sheetfed offset offering, while VariJET represented its move into digital packaging printing. Security printing remains one of the company’s defining specialist activities. Through Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions, the group supplies equipment for banknotes and other value documents, including technologies associated with intaglio and other protected-printing processes. The company has described its equipment as being used in the production of a very large share of the world’s banknotes, although the precise proportion is not independently established in the supplied material. Today, Koenig & Bauer is an internationally active, publicly listed German industrial company. Its business serves packaging manufacturers, commercial printers, publishers, industrial customers and security-printing organizations. The company’s current identity combines the heritage of a nineteenth-century press maker with a broader portfolio of automated, digital, offset, flexographic and security-printing systems. Its development reflects the wider printing industry’s movement from mechanical presses toward integrated production platforms with higher automation, inspection and workflow capabilities.
- 2001
Acquisition of Giori SA
[1]Following Gualtiero Giori’s death, Koenig & Bauer acquired Giori SA; part of the acquired operation was renamed KBA Giori.
- 1958
Long-term Giori manufacturing arrangement
[1]A long-term agreement gave Koenig & Bauer exclusive manufacturing rights for Giori machines while Giori received the company’s distribution rights.
- 1952
Initial agreement with Gualtiero Giori
[1]Koenig & Bauer entered into an agreement with Gualtiero Giori concerning the manufacture and distribution of his intaglio-printing technology.
- 1951
Strategic response to aging press designs
[1]Chairman Hans Bolza addressed the problem of aging machine designs and began pursuing cooperation with Gualtiero Giori in advanced intaglio printing.
- 1817
Company founded in Würzburg
[1]Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer established the printing-press business in Würzburg, creating the foundation of what became Koenig & Bauer.
Products and positioning
A high-end industrial printing-equipment manufacturer combining long-established offset and security-printing expertise with digital, flexographic, packaging and automated production technologies.
Sheetfed offset presses
Rapida
Rapida is Koenig & Bauer’s major family of sheetfed offset presses. The range is associated with high-speed commercial and packaging production and can be configured with options such as coating, drying, automated makeready, quality control and multi-color printing. Its applications include folding cartons, commercial print, publishing and other sheet-based work requiring repeatable color and high throughput.
Digital printing systems
VariJET
VariJET is a digital printing platform aimed primarily at packaging applications. It is designed to combine the variable-data and short-run advantages of digital printing with elements of conventional production workflows. The system addresses customers seeking versioned packaging, reduced makeready, shorter runs and integration with finishing or hybrid production processes.
Security-printing equipment
Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions
Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions supplies specialized equipment for banknote and value-document production. Its technologies support demanding security-printing processes, including intaglio-related applications, precise multicolor work, numbering and quality inspection. The division is a central part of the company’s historic and current position in security printing.
Intaglio and security-printing equipment · 2001
KBA Giori
KBA Giori was the name applied to part of Giori SA after Koenig & Bauer acquired the company in 2001. It represents the continuation within the Koenig & Bauer group of Giori’s specialist expertise in intaglio and security-printing machinery.
Brand decisions
2001
Acquisition of Giori SAM&ABackground
The acquisition followed the death of Gualtiero Giori and built on decades of commercial and manufacturing cooperation.
Action taken
Koenig & Bauer acquired Giori SA and integrated part of the operation under the KBA Giori name.
Aftermath
The transaction consolidated Giori’s specialist security-printing capabilities within Koenig & Bauer’s group structure.
1952
Cooperation with Gualtiero GioriStrategyBackground
Koenig & Bauer faced aging press designs and needed access to newer intaglio-printing expertise for its security-printing business.
Action taken
The company entered an agreement with Gualtiero Giori and later secured manufacturing rights for Giori machines.
Aftermath
The relationship supported Koenig & Bauer’s long-term development in security printing and preceded the later acquisition of Giori SA.
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