Waelzholz

Waelzholz (formally C.D. Wälzholz GmbH & Co. KG, also written WAELZOLZ) is a German family-owned industrial manufacturer specializing in cold-rolled and heat-treated steel strip, steel profiles and flat wire products. The company traces its origins to 1829, when Caspar Diederich Wälzholz founded a wire-drawing mill in the Nahmertal valley in Hohenlimburg, Westphalia. Over nearly two centuries it evolved from a small wire and reed factory into an international supplier of premium steel materials, with headquarters and main plants in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Waelzholz describes itself as a partner for steel strip and innovative steel materials, serving customers in the automotive, electrical, packaging, energy, industrial technology and consumer-goods sectors. Its product range includes cold-rolled steel strip, hardened and tempered strip, martensitic strip, electrical steel strip, tinplate, copper-plated cold-rolled steel strip, flat wire and ski edges. The company emphasizes customized material solutions, technical expertise and digital services, and states that all its sites are connected to the quality management system at its Hagen headquarters. The group operates production facilities and service centers in all key markets. In Germany it offers a comprehensive portfolio of customized steel strip and profiles. In Brazil, its factory has a production capacity of over 130,000 tons of cold-rolled steel strip per year for the Latin American market. Waelzholz North America provides services with short lead times, while a production site in China serves the Asian market. In Götzis, Austria, the company produces well over 10,000 kilometers of steel edges for skis and snowboards annually, and a service center near Milan, Italy, focuses on fast response times and small to medium batch sizes. In April 2026 the company announced it is building the first cold-rolling mill in Mexico, near Saltillo, with production planned to start in mid-2028 at up to 50,000 metric tons per year. Waelzholz remains a private, family-owned business. Its long history includes the transition from water power to steam, the expansion of cold rolling in the early 20th century, internationalization through plants in Brazil and China, and diversification into electrical steel and other high-performance materials. Sustainability, described as economic, social and environmental, is presented as a core corporate value shaped over almost 200 years.

Waelzholz traces its history to 1829, when Caspar Diederich Wälzholz (1787–1860) founded a wire-drawing mill in the Nahmertal valley in Hohenlimburg, Westphalia. Among the first products were so-called Webriete, from which weaving combs for mechanical looms were made. In 1845 Wälzholz founded the 'Rietefabrik des Caspar D. Wälzholz', producing 660 hundredweight of finished products annually. In 1857 he transferred the business to his son Ludwig, who replaced the water power of the Nahmerbach stream with a 12-horsepower steam engine and built a large factory hall. In 1866 the company began producing crinoline rods for hoop skirts. Parallel to this, new applications for cold-rolled steel emerged: screws, parts for musical instruments, sewing machines and bicycles were made from the material. Ludwig Wälzholz Senior died in 1874, and Ludwig Wälzholz Junior (1854–1939) took over, supported by his brothers August (1864–1911) and Gisbert (1873–1959). A boom beginning around 1895 enabled further expansion of buildings and staff. From 28 May 1900, C.D. Wälzholz was connected to the Hohenlimburg Kleinbahn, initially with two sidings and from 1915 with five. After the Kleinbahn ended piece-goods handling in 1958, only wagonload traffic with rollbocks to the transfer station remained until the Kleinbahn ceased operations in the Nahmertal in 1983. In 1908 Waelzholz founded the Union-Gesellschaft für Metallindustrie GmbH in Fröndenberg together with the bicycle-parts manufacturer Feuerhake & Cie, and between 1906 and 1910 built another cold-rolling mill. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, cold rolling accounted for 70 percent of production, with the rest from drawing bars and wire. Before the war, the automotive industry and the emerging electrical industry were important customers. A quarter of sales were exported within Europe and to Japan, South Africa and the USA. In 1919 Günther Wälzholz (1889–1970) and in 1921 Hans Junius (1888–1968), son-in-law of Ludwig Wälzholz, joined management. During the inflation period Waelzholz benefited from export business that brought in foreign currency. From the mid-1920s an upswing followed, and the company successfully produced Paragon steels for umbrellas. In 1937 Hans Junius became personally liable managing director. During World War II the Waelzholz plant worked for the metal goods and armaments industry and was involved in the 'Jägerprogramm' for manufacturing new fighter aircraft. Due to raw material shortages and war-related deterioration of infrastructure, parts of the plant were shut down in 1941. Between 1939 and 1945 the C.D. Wälzholz wire factory was one of the companies in Hohenlimburg that employed foreign workers and forced laborers. There was also a central prisoner-of-war camp or work detail in the immediate vicinity of the operation on Wulfeldstraße. After the war the Waelzholz plants were largely spared from air-raid damage, but a production ban was in force. In 1946 Junius received the 'small permit' to resume production, mainly manufacturing household appliances from raw materials. The 'large permit' for resuming rolling and drawing followed in 1947. With the currency reform, an upswing set in again in 1948, and in the 1950s another plant expansion followed. In 1953 Hans-Martin Wälzholz-Junius (1922–2001), Eckart Wälzholz-Junius (1930–2011) and Dieter Wälzholz took over the business and drove modernization. Between 1952 and 1955 Waelzholz grew to become the largest strip hardening plant in Europe. Bar drawing was discontinued in 1956, and at the end of the 1950s another modernization began with the production of cold-rolled electrical strip, responding to rising demand from the electrical and automotive industries. The following years were marked by expansion: new plants were opened in Hagen-Fley in 1962 and 1969, and Brasmetal Waelzholz S.A. was founded in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1973. To supply companies in southern Germany and Switzerland quickly with small quantities of strip steel, production also began at a service center in Konstanz in 1986. The company's expansion also encouraged social commitment: in 1982 Inge Wälzholz-Junius (1934–2017) founded Pro Integration Ausbildungsstätten GmbH to train mentally disabled and learning-disabled young people. In 1990 Hans-Toni Junius (born 1956) and Herbert Otten took over management. Waelzholz specialized in carbon steel and electrical strip. In 2000 it bought the former Hoesch plant in Hagen-Kabel. After taking over the Plettenberg company Kaltwalzwerk Brockhaus GmbH, the C.D. Wälzholz-Produktions-GmbH in Hagen and Kaltwalzwerk Brockhaus GmbH, which supplemented Waelzholz's product range with sorbitic and bainitic tempered strip steel, merged into C.D. Wälzholz GmbH with 1,000 employees. To cut and deliver strip steel in smaller quantities, Waelzholz founded two service centers in 2001: one in Iserlohn for the German market and one in Cleveland, Ohio, for the North American market. A further service center followed in Thiers, France, in 2003. The special product of steel profiles for ski edges has been produced in Götzis, Austria, since 1993. In the 21st century Waelzholz continued to internationalize, adding a production site in China and, in April 2026, announcing the construction of the first cold-rolling mill in Mexico, near Saltillo, with production planned to start in mid-2028 at up to 50,000 metric tons per year. The company remains family-owned and describes sustainability as a value shaped over almost 200 years.

• 2000

  Waelzholz buys the former Hoesch plant in Hagen-Kabel.

• 1993

  Production of steel profiles for ski edges begins in Götzis, Austria.

• 1990

  Hans-Toni Junius and Herbert Otten take over management.

• 1986

  Production begins at a service center in Konstanz.

• 1982

  Inge Wälzholz-Junius founds Pro Integration Ausbildungsstätten GmbH.

• 1973

  Brasmetal Waelzholz S.A. is founded in São Paulo, Brazil.

• 1969

  A second new plant opens in Hagen-Fley.

• 1962

  A new plant opens in Hagen-Fley.

• 1956

  Bar drawing is discontinued.

• 1953

  Hans-Martin Wälzholz-Junius, Eckart Wälzholz-Junius and Dieter Wälzholz take over the business.

• 1947

  The 'large permit' for resuming rolling and drawing follows.

• 1946

  Hans Junius receives the 'small permit' to resume production, mainly household appliances.

• 1941

  Parts of the plant are shut down due to raw material shortages and war-related infrastructure deterioration.

• 1937

  Hans Junius becomes personally liable managing director.

• 1921

  Hans Junius, son-in-law of Ludwig Wälzholz, joins management.

• 1919

  Günther Wälzholz joins management.

• 1915

  The number of sidings to the Hohenlimburg Kleinbahn increases to five.

• 1908

  Waelzholz co-founds Union-Gesellschaft für Metallindustrie GmbH in Fröndenberg with Feuerhake & Cie.

• 1900

  C.D. Wälzholz is connected to the Hohenlimburg Kleinbahn with two sidings.

• 1874

  Ludwig Wälzholz Senior dies; Ludwig Wälzholz Junior takes over with his brothers August and Gisbert.

• 1866

  Waelzholz begins producing crinoline rods for hoop skirts.

• 1857

  Caspar Diederich Wälzholz transfers the business to his son Ludwig, who introduces a 12-horsepower steam engine.

• 1845

  Founding of the 'Rietefabrik des Caspar D. Wälzholz', producing 660 hundredweight of finished products annually.

• 1829

  Caspar Diederich Wälzholz founds a wire-drawing mill in the Nahmertal valley in Hohenlimburg.

Premium, customized steel materials and services with global supply reliability and German quality management.

• Cold-rolled steel strip

  Customized cold-rolled steel strip for a wide range of applications and industries.

• Flat wire products

  Flat rolled wire with high tensile strength and even bending properties, used in zippers, wiper blades, coil springs, jigsaw blades and more.

• Ski and snowboard edges

  Steel edges produced in Götzis, Austria, with well over 10,000 kilometers per year.

• Electrical steel strip

  High-performance electrical steel strip for electric vehicles, energy and industrial technology.

• Tinplate

  Tin-plated cold-rolled steel strip for packaging and technical protective applications.

• Copper-plated cold-rolled steel strip

  Highly conductive and visually appealing copper-plated cold-rolled steel strip.

• Martensitic hardened and tempered steel strip

  Martensitic hardened and tempered steel strip with lead-free surfaces.

1. 1Waelzholz – Your partner for steel strip and innovative steel materialswaelzholz.com
2. 2Production sites and service centers for cold-rolled steel strip worldwidewaelzholz.com
3. 3High-precision flat wire productswaelzholz.com
4. 4New cold-rolling mill in Mexicowaelzholz.com
5. 5Waelzholz Gruppe – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
6. 6Waelzholz – Wikidatawikidata.org