Risse + Wilke Kaltband

Risse + Wilke Kaltband GmbH & Co. KG is a German cold-rolled strip steel producer headquartered in Iserlohn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company traces its origins to 1907, when farmer Eduard Risse founded the Hohenlimburger Facondraht-Fabrik Risse & Co. in the Elsey district. In 1919 Eduard Risse and merchant Wilhelm Wilke acquired the former Camphausen site on Oeger Straße in Hohenlimburg, and at the beginning of 1920 they established the firm Risse + Wilke. Over time, wire production was converted to the rolling of cold-rolled strip and strip steel. After Eduard Risse left the company in 1924, Wilhelm Wilke continued it alone. Following Wilhelm Wilke senior's death in 1939, his son Wilhelm Wilke took over management after World War II at the age of 19. Under his leadership, major capital investments were made at the Hohenlimburg site, particularly in the 1960s. After his death in 1972, Karl Halverscheid and Lore Wilke led the firm. In the 1970s and 1980s, further modernization included a quarto reversing mill and investments in the hot and finish-rolling areas. The sons of Wilhelm and Lore Wilke, Jens Wilke and Dr. Kai Wilke, joined the company in 1985 and 1989 respectively. In 1998, Risse + Wilke acquired a majority stake in the Iserlohn cold-rolling mill from Hoesch Hohenlimburg, and activities were gradually transferred to the newly established Risse + Wilke Kaltband GmbH & Co. KG in Iserlohn-Letmathe. Cold-rolled strip production at the Hohenlimburg works ceased at the end of 2003, with operations fully relocated to Iserlohn. In early 2006, the Wilke brothers acquired the remaining minority shares from Hoesch Hohenlimburg GmbH. In 2008, managing director Jörg Lohölter also became a partner. Today the company operates two sites in the Lennetal, the center of the European cold-rolling industry: the main plant in Iserlohn-Letmathe (built in 1960 by P.W. Lenzen, acquired in 1998) and the Hagen-Hohenlimburg site, which now mainly handles storage and dispatch, with one finishing mill still producing selected cold-rolled strip grades. Risse + Wilke is a medium-sized, third-generation family business. Its product range includes classic cold-rolled strip for stamping, drawing, stretching and deep-drawing applications; packaging strip as a starting material for hardened steel strapping; micro-alloyed cold-rolled strip for bent and drawn parts with high yield strength; and case-hardening, structural, key and soft-magnetic steels for various industrial uses.

The history of Risse + Wilke begins in 1907, when the farmer Eduard Risse founded the Hohenlimburger Facondraht-Fabrik Risse & Co. in the Elsey district. In 1919, Eduard Risse and the merchant Wilhelm Wilke acquired the former Camphausen site on Oeger Straße in Hohenlimburg, and at the beginning of 1920 they founded the firm Risse + Wilke. Gradually, wire production was converted to the rolling of cold-rolled strip and strip steel. In 1924, Eduard Risse left the company, which from then on was continued solely by Wilhelm Wilke. Wilhelm Wilke senior died in 1939. Between 1939 and 1945, Risse & Wilke, a cold-rolling mill and precision drawing works, was one of the companies in Hohenlimburg that employed foreign workers and forced laborers. After World War II, Wilhelm Wilke, the son of the company founder, joined the firm and took over management at the age of 19. Under his leadership, particularly in the 1960s, the essential base investments were made at the Oeger Straße site in Hohenlimburg. After Wilhelm Wilke's death in 1972, the management of the company was placed in the hands of Karl Halverscheid and Lore Wilke. In the 1970s and 1980s, investments were made in a quarto reversing mill as well as further modernization and expansion measures in the hot-rolling and finish-rolling areas at the Hohenlimburg site. The heirs of the company shares and sons of Wilhelm and Lore Wilke, Jens Wilke and Dr. Kai Wilke, joined the company in 1985 and 1989 respectively. In the 1990s, a series of investment, organizational and personnel measures created the conditions for the company's secured further development. After acquiring the majority stake in the Iserlohn cold-rolling mill from Hoesch Hohenlimburg in 1998, the activities of the Hohenlimburg Risse + Wilke GmbH & Co. KG were gradually transferred to the Iserlohn-based Risse + Wilke Kaltband GmbH & Co. KG. Cold-rolled strip production at the Hohenlimburg works was finally discontinued at the end of 2003 and completely transferred to the Iserlohn works. At the beginning of 2006, the remaining minority shares of Hoesch Hohenlimburg GmbH in Risse + Wilke Kaltband GmbH & Co. KG were acquired by the brothers Kai and Jens Wilke. In 2008, the previous managing director Jörg Lohölter also became a partner in the company. Today, Risse + Wilke operates two sites in the Lennetal, the center of the European cold-rolling industry. The Iserlohn-Letmathe works, originally built in 1960 by P.W. Lenzen at Stenglingser Weg, was installed at the beginning of 1998 as a joint venture under the name Risse + Wilke Kaltband GmbH & Co. KG by Risse + Wilke GmbH & Co. KG and Hoesch Hohenlimburg GmbH as the then second site of Risse + Wilke. Step by step, the active business, employees and parts of the production facilities were transferred from the now smaller Hohenlimburg site to this more modern and significantly larger works. This process was ultimately completed in 2006 with the acquisition of the remaining minority shares from Hoesch Hohenlimburg GmbH. The Hagen-Hohenlimburg works, the company's original plant founded in 1920 on Oeger Straße, was taken out of operation at the end of 2003 after the complete transfer of the active business to the Letmathe works. Today, after almost complete dismantling of the production facilities, the site is used for storage and dispatch of finished material from Letmathe production. Only one finish-rolling stand still produces selected cold-rolled strip grades there.

• 2008

  Managing director Jörg Lohölter becomes a partner.

• 2006

  Wilke brothers acquire remaining minority shares from Hoesch Hohenlimburg GmbH.

• 2003

  Cold-rolled strip production at Hohenlimburg works discontinued at year-end; fully transferred to Iserlohn.

• 1998

  Acquisition of majority stake in Iserlohn cold-rolling mill from Hoesch Hohenlimburg; establishment of Risse + Wilke Kaltband GmbH & Co. KG in Iserlohn-Letmathe.

• 1989

  Dr. Kai Wilke joins the company.

• 1985

  Jens Wilke joins the company.

• 1972

  Death of Wilhelm Wilke; management passes to Karl Halverscheid and Lore Wilke.

• 1939

  Death of Wilhelm Wilke senior.

• 1939

  Between 1939 and 1945, the company employs foreign workers and forced laborers.

• 1924

  Eduard Risse leaves the company; Wilhelm Wilke continues it alone.

• 1920

  Founding of Risse + Wilke at the beginning of the year.

• 1919

  Eduard Risse and Wilhelm Wilke acquire the former Camphausen site on Oeger Straße in Hohenlimburg.

• 1907

  Eduard Risse founds Hohenlimburger Facondraht-Fabrik Risse & Co. in Elsey.

Medium-sized, third-generation family-owned specialist in cold-rolled strip steel, located in the European cold-rolling heartland of the Lennetal.

• Classic cold-rolled strip

  Suitable for stamping, drawing, stretching and deep-drawing purposes with high demands on forming properties, surface finish and tolerance accuracy; features a very homogeneous structure with low scatter of characteristic values and unmatched forming properties.

• Packaging strip

  Special product made in a shortened production process; starting material for the manufacture of hardened steel packaging strapping.

• Micro-alloyed cold-rolled strip

  Suitable for the production of bent and drawn parts with increased or high yield strengths combined with high elongation values.

• Case-hardening steel

  Used for stamped parts exposed to high wear and large impact loads (e.g. gears); grades for components whose surface layer is case-hardened, offering higher hardness in the surface layer compared to the core, with very good formability in the LC version.

• Structural steel

  Suitable for the production of stamped, bent and drawn parts for various applications; a low carbon equivalent allows good weldability.

• Key steel

  Used for the production of keys; advantages include good milling and embossing properties and comparatively high tool lives due to chemical analysis.

• Soft-magnetic iron

  Special grade characterized by low coercive field strength, high induction and magnetic aging resistance.

1. 1Risse + Wilke – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
2. 2Risse + Wilke Kaltband – Wikidatawikidata.org