Theben

Theben AG is a German manufacturer of time-control, sensing, climate-control, and building-automation technology. Founded in Stuttgart in 1921 by master watchmaker Paul Schwenk as Paul Schwenk Apparatebau, the company developed from a maker of timing devices into a supplier of products and systems for electrical installation, building control, and energy management. Its headquarters and principal base are in Haigerloch, where the business relocated in 1941. The company describes itself as a family business and, in 2021, marked its centenary. The product range includes digital and analogue time switches, staircase-lighting timers, motion and presence detectors, room and clock thermostats, KNX building-system components, and smart-energy and smart-metering products. Theben’s current website also presents products such as the ELPA 540 APP BN compact staircase-light timer, the iONprime series of KNX controls and room controllers, and the OKTO 540 BN flush-mounted impulse switch. The company develops solutions for residential and commercial building control, electrical installation, and energy-related applications; its products are not limited to home security. Theben AG is the parent company of the Theben Group. The German-language company history describes subsidiaries and associated companies in several European countries and beyond, as well as representatives in more than 60 countries. The group’s activities have included OEM solutions through the tts – theben technische systeme unit and smart-metering technology through products such as the CONEXA 3.0 Performance Smart Meter Gateway. The group is privately held, with no public listing identified in the supplied material. The company has a long connection with building-control standards. It joined the KNX Association in 1995 and has participated in the further development of the KNX standard. Its history also includes early staircase-lighting automation, time switches, thermostats, sensors, and later smart-energy products. Theben continues to present itself as a supplier of practical, technically focused building-control products, combining established time-control equipment with connected and app-configurable devices.

Theben’s company history begins in 1921, when watchmaker Paul Schwenk founded Paul Schwenk Apparatebau in Stuttgart. The company’s early technical work included patents for time-remote switching and motor-driven winding mechanisms for spring-driven clockworks. In 1930 it developed its first staircase-lighting automatic switch, known as ELPA, based on a project Schwenk had made as a master craftsman’s piece in 1918. The company introduced tariff time switches in 1932. In 1941, the business moved from Stuttgart to Haigerloch. The company expanded its products and organization over the following decades. It established its first foreign sales company, Theben S.a.r.l. in France, in 1971. In 1973 it founded PEZET GmbH for tooling and plastics technology in Haigerloch and further expanded production at its main site. Theben filed a patent for a rotatable switching dial in 1977, a design the German-language company history says became standard in mechanical time switches; it also filed a patent for a plug-in timer that year. In 1994 it introduced a digital clock thermostat with telephone remote control. During the 1990s, Theben entered the development of EIB technology, the predecessor of the KNX building-system standard, with bus-capable time switches and twilight switches. It joined the KNX Association in 1995 and has participated in developing the KNX standard. The company moved into a new production building in Haigerloch’s Madertal industrial area in 1999. From 2001, its tts – theben technische systeme unit developed and produced OEM solutions for manufacturers of drive systems and control technology, energy suppliers, and heating-system manufacturers. The company was known as Theben-Werk Zeitautomatik GmbH until 22 April 2002, according to the German-language article. Theben continued to build its international presence and broaden its product portfolio in the 2000s and 2010s. In 2007 it acquired Switzerland’s High Technology Systems AG, described in the company-history source as the Swiss inventor of the motion detector, and combined it with Theben (Schweiz) AG to form Theben HTS AG, based in Effretikon. The company established Theben Spain S.L. and Theben Asia PTE. Ltd. in Singapore in 2013. The company history also records changes to the executive board: Paul Sebastian Schwenk, the founder’s great-grandson, joined the board on 1 September 2016, taking on areas including marketing, business development, digitalisation, IT, human resources, and smart energy. Andreas Stratmann left shortly beforehand. In 2020, the leadership team was expanded to include Michael Matthesius as technology executive alongside Paul S. Schwenk, who became chairman on 1 September, and Thomas Sell, responsible for sales. Theben’s later development has included smart-energy and smart-metering systems as well as established time-control and building-automation products. The company history reports that its CONEXA 3.0 Performance Smart Meter Gateway was approved by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security for operation in the German electricity grid in August 2020. The family-owned company celebrated its centenary in 2021. Its current homepage continues to present products for electrical installation and building control, including app-configurable time switches, KNX controls, and compact installation devices.

• 2021

  Theben celebrates its centenary

• 2020

  CONEXA 3.0 Performance Smart Meter Gateway approved for use in Germany’s electricity grid

• 2020

  Paul S. Schwenk becomes chairman; Michael Matthesius joins the leadership team

• 2016

  Paul Sebastian Schwenk joins the Executive Board

• 2013

  Theben Spain S.L. and Theben Asia PTE. Ltd. established

• 2007

  Acquisition and integration of High Technology Systems AG in Switzerland

• 2002

  Company name changed from Theben-Werk Zeitautomatik GmbH

• 2001

  tts unit begins developing and producing OEM solutions

• 1999

  New production building opened in Haigerloch’s Madertal industrial area

• 1995

  Theben joins the KNX Association

• 1994

  Digital clock thermostat with telephone remote control introduced

• 1977

  Patents filed for the rotatable switching dial and plug-in timer

• 1973

  PEZET GmbH established in Haigerloch

• 1971

  First foreign sales company established in France

• 1941

  The business relocates from Stuttgart to Haigerloch

• 1932

  Introduction of tariff time switches

• 1930

  Development of the ELPA staircase-lighting automatic switch

• 1921

  Paul Schwenk founds the company in Stuttgart

A family-owned German specialist in time control, sensors, KNX building automation, and smart-energy technology, serving electrical installation and building-control applications.

• ELPA 540 APP BN

  Compact staircase-lighting timer installed in an in-wall box and configurable by app, according to the official homepage.

• iONprime

  Series of KNX touch sensors and a 4-inch room controller presented by Theben as combining design with intelligent building control.

• OKTO 540 BN

  Compact, quiet, flush-mounted impulse switch with neutral conductor, designed for constrained installation spaces.

• CONEXA 3.0 Performance

  Smart Meter Gateway that the company history says received German Federal Office for Information Security approval for operation in Germany’s electricity grid in August 2020.

1. 1Theben AG official homepagetheben.de
2. 2Theben AG company historytheben.de
3. 3Theben AG — German Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
4. 4Theben AG — Wikidatawikidata.org