Salamander Industrie-Produkte GmbH

Salamander Industrie-Produkte GmbH is a German manufacturer of highly energy-efficient window and door systems made of plastic (PVC), headquartered in Türkheim in the Unterallgäu district of Bavaria. The company describes itself as one of the leading European system providers for plastic window and door profiles, supplying window manufacturers rather than end consumers directly. Its profile systems are used in renovation, refurbishment and new-build projects, in both residential and commercial construction, and are distributed in more than 85 countries worldwide. The group employs around 1,580 people, including roughly 40 apprentices, and reported group revenue of €324 million in 2021. The Salamander name has a much older and broader history than the window business. It originated in the shoe industry: in 1899 Rudolf Moos registered the "Salamander" trademark for a leather-care product, and in 1903 the first Salamander-branded shoe was sold in Berlin. The Salamander shoe company grew into a major German footwear brand, and its industrial operations in Türkheim — established by Jakob Sigle, who acquired the site in 1918 — produced leather fibre materials and other components. The Türkheim plant later moved into plastics injection moulding in 1960 and, from 1973, into the plastic extrusion that became the basis of today's window and door profile business. When the shoe industry changed dramatically in the early 21st century, Salamander AG in Kornwestheim filed for insolvency on 8 September 2004 and its divisions were sold separately. Salamander Industrie-Produkte became legally independent and rebuilt its corporate structure over the following years. Today the Salamander Group operates in five business areas: Salamander Window & Door Systems (the core PVC window and door profile business, marketed under the Salamander myWindow approach), Salamander SPS GmbH & Co. KG (leather fibre materials), ttp Papenburg GmbH (custom plastic profiles and extrusion solutions), Salamander Extrutec Solutions GmbH & Co. KG (special tools for plastic profile extrusion), and Salamander Decking, Fence & Facade (outdoor profile systems). The company positions itself around German quality, innovation, design and sustainability, and its products have received recognition including the German Design Award and Red Dot awards. Its window systems are marketed under names such as bluEvolution, greenEvolution and evolutionDrive, and it emphasises energy savings, recyclable profiles, funding eligibility and barrier-free options. Sustainability is presented as a long-standing theme, rooted in the company's origins in leather recycling.

The Salamander name began in the leather and shoe trade rather than in construction. In 1899 Rudolf Moos registered the "Salamander" trademark with the Reich Patent Office for a leather-care product, produced in the cellars of his shoe shop at Friedrichstraße 221 in Berlin. In 1903 the first Salamander-branded shoe was sold in Berlin at a manufacturer's price of 12.50 marks per pair, and on 30 December 1903 the first Salamander shoe shop opened in Berlin. The commercial success led to the founding of Salamander GmbH in Berlin in early 1905, with Rudolf Moos and sales specialist Max Levi as partners and the shoe factory J. Sigle & Cie. in Kornwestheim, led by Jakob Sigle, as contractual partner. A further subsidiary was founded in Stuttgart in July 1906. Initially the company produced welted men's shoes exclusively for Salamander shoe shops; women's shoes followed a year later after the women's models were redesigned. Until 1913 the company used an artificial leather imported from the United States. When increased domestic US demand and the wartime situation from summer 1914 made further deliveries to Germany impossible, Jakob Sigle decided to acquire the rights to the manufacturing process and began producing artificial leather himself. As energy supply at his then site in Hofheim am Taunus became increasingly restricted with the outbreak of the First World War, he looked for a new location and found it in Türkheim, where an old wood-grinding mill and a hydroelectric plant fed by the Wertach river were available. The property was acquired in 1918, and from then on artificial leather and material for cardboard production in Kornwestheim were made there. The factory building was extended in 1934, and by 1935 the Türkheim plant employed 137 people. After years of development, Salamander began production of its own leather fibre material in 1936, used in shoe heel counters and insoles, and production was expanded in the following years. For 1938 the company reported that products from the Türkheim plant could save around 5,000 tonnes of leather annually. During the Second World War the Türkheim site remained fully occupied despite energy restrictions, because shoes were urgently needed and therefore so were shoe components. In 1949 the two plants in Kornwestheim and Türkheim reached around 5,500 employees, returning to pre-war levels. In 1960 the company entered plastics injection moulding for the first time, producing heels for women's shoes; from 1973 this formed the basis for today's plastic extrusion of window and door profiles in the Window & Door Systems division. Until 1996 the company even operated its own road-roller transport: railway wagons loaded with leather waste and liquid latex were brought from the Türkheim (Bay) Markt station on the Gessertshausen–Türkheim line (the "Staudenbahn") onto the factory grounds using two company-owned road rollers from Waggon- und Maschinenbau GmbH Donauwörth and an MAN tractor unit. The market changes in the shoe industry in the 21st century plunged Salamander AG in Kornwestheim into crisis; it filed for insolvency on 8 September 2004 and the individual business divisions were sold separately. As a result, the Salamander Industrie-Produkte division became legally independent and rebuilt its group structure over the following years. A second plant for window and door profiles has existed in Włocławek, Poland, since 1995. Today Salamander Industrie-Produkte GmbH, a predominantly family-owned company headquartered in Türkheim, is one of the leading European system providers for highly energy-efficient plastic window and door systems, with around 1,580 employees worldwide and distribution in over 85 countries.

• 2021

  Group revenue reported at €324 million.

• 2004

  Salamander AG files for insolvency on 8 September; divisions sold separately.

• 1996

  Company ends its own road-roller transport operations.

• 1995

  Second plant for window and door profiles established in Włocławek, Poland.

• 1973

  Plastic extrusion begins, forming the basis for today's window and door profile business.

• 1960

  Company enters plastics injection moulding with women's shoe heels.

• 1949

  Kornwestheim and Türkheim plants reach around 5,500 employees.

• 1937

  Introduction of Lurchi, transforming the shoe shopping experience.

• 1936

  Salamander begins production of its own leather fibre material.

• 1935

  Türkheim plant employs 137 people.

• 1934

  Factory building in Türkheim extended.

• 1923

  Salamander develops a patented process for recycled leather from shoe-production scraps.

• 1918

  Jakob Sigle acquires the Türkheim site with its hydroelectric plant.

• 1917

  Salamander Industrie-Produkte establishment year in Türkheim/Unterallgäu.

• 1906

  Further subsidiary founded in Stuttgart.

• 1905

  Salamander GmbH founded in Berlin by Rudolf Moos and Max Levi.

• 1903

  First Salamander-branded shoe sold in Berlin; first Salamander shoe shop opens on 30 December.

• 1899

  Rudolf Moos registers the "Salamander" trademark for a leather-care product.

Leading European system provider of highly energy-efficient plastic window and door systems, emphasising German quality, innovation, design, sustainability and customer-focused service.

• Salamander bluEvolution

  PVC window and door profile system used in renovation and new construction.

• Salamander greenEvolution

  Window system highlighted in customer testimonials.

• evolutionDrive

  Sliding system for windows and doors.

• evolutionDrive_HST with levelZer0

  Accessible sliding system with levelZer0 threshold.

• Salamander myWindow

  App-based solution and partner approach for window buyers.

• Salamander SPS leather fibre materials

  High-quality leather fibre fabrics for shoe, furniture, leather goods and packaging industries.

• ttp Papenburg custom plastic profiles

  Customised profiles from various plastics, including price-tag rails for shopfitting.

• Salamander Extrutec Solutions tooling

  Special tools used in the extrusion of plastic profiles.

• Salamander Decking, Fence & Facade

  Quality profile systems for outdoor applications.

1. 1Salamander Window & Door Systems – official websitesalamander-windows.com
2. 2Geschichte | Salamander Window & Door Systemsalamander-windows.com
3. 3Corporate divisions | Salamander Window & Door Systemsalamander-windows.com
4. 4Company | Salamander Window & Door Systemsalamander-windows.com
5. 5Salamander factory – Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6Salamander Industrie-Produkte – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org