VEM Holding
German manufacturer of electric motors and drive systems, with roots dating to 1886 and a product range from 0.06 kW to 100 MW.
Last updated September 29, 2026
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Overview
VEM Holding is the parent company of the VEM Group, a German association of electrical machine manufacturers whose brand heritage dates back to 1886. The group develops and produces electric motors, drive systems, transformers, frequency converters and power converters, covering an output range from 0.06 kilowatts to 100 megawatts (300 megavolt-amperes). Its main production sites are in Dresden, Wernigerode and Zwickau, with additional operations in Slovakia and China and a worldwide sales and service network. The VEM brand originated in East Germany as a shared trademark of electrical machine-building enterprises, used mainly by companies within the VVB Elektromaschinen and later the Kombinat Elektromaschinenbau. The VEM Holding itself was founded in 1997 by the Blaubeuren entrepreneurial family of Adolf Merckle after the purchase of five plants from the Horst Plaschna GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs-, Sanierungs- und Verkaufs KG. In 2017 ownership passed to a Chinese family investor, SEC Electric Machinery. The group's operating companies include VEM Sachsenwerk GmbH in Dresden, a specialist in medium- and high-voltage machines and drive solutions up to 100 MW; VEM motors GmbH in Wernigerode, a major producer of low-voltage three-phase motors from 5.5 kW to 1200 kW with a focus on IE2 and IE3 energy-saving classes; VEM motors Thurm GmbH in Zwickau, producing low-voltage machines from 0.06 kW to 7.5 kW; and VEM transresch GmbH in Dresden, which makes power converters and electrical drive systems. VEM also maintains VEM Slovakia s.r.o. in Piešťany and VEM China, a wholly owned subsidiary founded in 2017. VEM positions itself as an innovative, internationally active and reliable manufacturer of technically demanding system and drive solutions, special drives and individual components. Its engineering and product quality under the VEM trademark are presented as market-leading. The company serves a wide range of industries and has increasingly realized complex modernization projects in rolling mills and tube mills, including automation, drive technology and power feed-in and distribution. Within Germany, VEM guarantees delivery of standard motors within 36 hours.
History
The VEM brand emerged during the East German era as a shared trademark of electrical machine-building enterprises. It was used mainly by companies within the VVB Elektromaschinen and later the Kombinat Elektromaschinenbau, but also by other enterprises with electrotechnical products. The individual plants that today form the VEM Group have much older roots: VEM Sachsenwerk GmbH was founded in 1903 in Dresden-Niedersedlitz, and the Wernigerode motor works began producing electric motors in January 1947 on the site of the Rautal-Werke, which had supplied aluminum castings for the aircraft industry from 1938 and was dismantled after 1945. In Thurm near Zwickau, the brothers Kurt and Alfred Stephan founded an electrical workshop in March 1908, which became 'K. & A. Stephan GmbH Thurm'. After World War II the Soviet Military Administration expropriated and dismantled the Thurm plant; motor production resumed there in 1947. VEM Holding was founded in 1997 by the Blaubeuren entrepreneurial family of Adolf Merckle after the purchase of five plants from the Horst Plaschna GmbH & Co. Beteiligungs-, Sanierungs- und Verkaufs KG. That same year, VEM motors Wernigerode and VEM motors Thurm were privatized by the Merckle family. The former VEM Holding also included the castings producer Keulahütte in Krauschwitz until 2017. Over the decades the group evolved from a classic electric motor manufacturer into a system and complete-solutions provider. In the 1970s the Wernigerode plant greatly expanded its production capacity; by 1989 it employed 3,260 people and produced 350,000 motors per year on a total area of 58,000 square meters. VEM motors Thurm expanded in 1967 with a new site on the outskirts of Zwickau, alongside a geared motor plant in Schneeberg. VEM transresch traces its origins to a rectifier office founded in 1945 in Berlin-Schöneweide; it was integrated into the EAW Treptow in 1948, became part of Elpro AG in 1990, was privatized in 1992, and its converter and drive business was taken over by Lloyd Dynamowerke Bremen in 1997. In 1999 the independent company transresch Antriebssysteme Berlin GmbH was founded as a management buy-out, and since 2011 it has belonged to the VEM Group. It moved from Berlin to Dresden in 2016 to better leverage synergies with Sachsenwerk. In 2017 ownership of VEM changed to a Chinese family investor, SEC Electric Machinery. VEM China, a wholly owned subsidiary of VEM GmbH, was founded in 2017. On March 26, 2020, VEM motors Thurm GmbH was merged into VEM motors Wernigerode. The group continues to operate production sites in Dresden, Wernigerode and Zwickau, with VEM Slovakia s.r.o. in Piešťany and a worldwide sales and service network. In 2026 VEM is marking its 140th anniversary and restructuring its sales activities into an integrated international organization.
- 2026
VEM marks its 140th anniversary and restructures sales into an integrated international organization.
- 2020
On March 26, VEM motors Thurm GmbH is merged into VEM motors Wernigerode.
- 2018
VEM motors Thurm in Zwickau celebrates its 110th anniversary.
- 2017
Ownership changes to Chinese family investor SEC Electric Machinery; VEM China founded; Keulahütte leaves the former VEM Holding.
- 2016
VEM transresch moves from Berlin to Dresden.
- 2011
VEM transresch GmbH joins the VEM Group.
- 1997
VEM Holding founded by the Adolf Merckle family after acquiring five plants; Wernigerode and Thurm plants privatized.
- 1989
Wernigerode plant employs 3,260 people and produces 350,000 motors per year.
- 1967
VEM motors Thurm expands production to a new site on the outskirts of Zwickau.
- 1947
Elektromotorenwerk Wernigerode begins motor production in January; motor production resumes in Thurm.
Products and positioning
Innovative, internationally active and reliable manufacturer of technically demanding system and drive solutions, special drives and individual components, with engineering and quality under the VEM trademark presented as market-leading.
VEM Sachsenwerk medium- and high-voltage machines
Medium- and high-voltage machines and drive solutions for individual industrial applications, including large machines, ship and traction motors, and wind power generators, up to 100 MW.
VEM motors Wernigerode low-voltage motors
Three-phase low-voltage motors from 5.5 kW to 1200 kW, with a focus on IE2 and IE3 energy-saving classes, special and custom motors, explosion-proof motors, and roller table motors.
VEM motors Thurm low-voltage machines
Low-voltage machines from 0.06 kW to 7.5 kW, developed and produced as special drives and standard motors.
VEM transresch power converters and drive systems
Power converters and electrical drive systems for industrial applications, including controlled drive systems for standard asynchronous motors.
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