A look at the family album

When Paul Kieselmann founded a contract turning shop in 1937, he could not know that he had laid the foundations for one of the most successful German engineering companies. Kieselmann’s diligence and uncompromising quality standards led to the rapid rise of the young company - and are still today the cornerstones of KIESELMANN GmbH.

Dual leadership

From 1992 onwards, Klaus Dohle managed the family business in the third generation. On 1 January 2021, Caroline Pötzl, née Dohle, joined the management. Since then, she and Klaus Dohle have formed the KIESELMANN dual leadership. The daughters of the company founder, Karin Helms-Kieselmann, Rosemarie Zitsch and Renate Dohle support them as partners.

Klaus Dohle and Caroline Pötzl drive the internationalisation of the company and the expansion of the headquarters. Subsidiaries in England, France, China and 30 worldwide agencies as well as new buildings and extensions at the Knittlingen site bear witness to this.

How did the company KIESELMANN progress from a tranquil Swabian company to a leading manufacturer in the production of process valves and systems made of stainless steel? The following timeline tells the success story.

The milestones of the family business KIESELMANN:

Shortly after Paul Kieselmann received his master craftsman's certificate in 1937, he founded a contract turning shop for aluminium and steel. The birth of Kieselmann. After the turmoil of the Second World War, the rapid development and expansion of the company began. The first production hall was built in 1947 and the company specialised in the production of turned stainless steel ..

As early as the 1950s, the workforce comprised 70 men and women. In 1957, a second 850 m² hall was built. The lathes installed in it were still operated manually. This beginning needed a doer who was hands-on. Paul Kieselmann was the person for this. Stories tell of how the founder himself would act when things got stuck in production. The customers also appreciated the entrepreneur, who in his blue Opel Kapitän liked to drop by in person and draw custom-made products. In 1966, the great mastermind of Kieselmann died at the age of 61.

After the death of Paul Kieselmann his wife, Helene Kieselmann, took over the management. The two sons-in-law, Horst Dohle and Walter Zitsch, were responsible for the commercial and technical management. While one expanded domestic and overseas sales activities and increased customer visits, the other managed the progress of production. In 1972, the company launched the first butterfly valve for the food industry in massive construction. One year later, KIESELMANN Anlagenbau was born, a department that plans and implements stainless steel systems for the beverage and food industry. The first printed KIESELMANN catalogue was published in 1975. It bundled the company's valve program at the time, such as plug valves, ball valves, butterfly valves, angle and multiway valves, overflow valves, sampling valves and spring-loaded safety valves.

In 1978, they once again outgrew themselves.

A new administration building with sales department was built and offered new space for the increasing number of employees. Things also got a bit tight for the new products, such as the first leakage-butterfly valve in a compact design: a new warehouse and a pipe warehouse also provided additional space here. The total floor space increased to 17,000 m². In 1981 they went to the Land of the Dragon and participated for the first time in a trade fair in the People's Republic of China . In Beijing, the first international sales office was founded in 1994. After the death of Helene Kieselmann in 1985, Horst Dohle took over sole management. Two years later, the entire operation was again enlarged and brought up to date. In the same year, 160 employees celebrated the 50th anniversary of the company.

In 1992, the next generational change was due. Horst Dohle’s son Klaus Dohle took over the management. Klaus Dohle still manages the fortunes of the company and drives its growth. The daughters of the company's founder, Karin Helms-Kieselmann, Rosemarie Zitsch and Renate Dohle assist him as shareholders . In 1996, the production was extended by 2000 m². The following year, the leak-proof Kieselmann double-seat valve was introduced to the market. The millennium was also marked by new products, such as the single-seat ball valve, which was introduced in 2001.

New millennium, new goals, new standards.

In 2004, the commissioning of the fully automatic high-bay warehouse was a very big event. With the universal sealing material k-flex and its very good resilience and high resistance to temperature and aggressive media, they set an industry standard. In 2005, the company expanded its product portfolio with the Aseptic sampling valve, Control heads with EMERGENCY STOP function and the new Inline programme. So it was obvious that in 2007 the production had to be extended again by approx. 3600 m² with indoor material storage and new social rooms.

In 2008, the GEMBRA aseptic diaphragm valve kicked off a new generation of Kieselmann valves. In the same year, the ASI bus control heads with clock pulse detection, without external sensors, were further developed and the KIESELMANN office was founded in England.

In 2009, the new administration building with an office space of 1,600 m² was completed and occupied, and KIESELMANN participated in AquaDuna GmbH & Co. KG. One year later, in 2010, they also participated in VA Food Processing GmbH and introduced the KIESELMANN KI-TOP control head . In 2011 RIEGER GmbH was taken over in Bietigheim-Bissingen. In 2012 the production was extended by approx. 5160m². In 2013, KIESELMANN RUS started business in Moscow, and in Germany KIESELMANN participated in Ruland Engineering & Consulting GmbH.

In 2014 and 2015, the company expanded its high-bay warehouse by almost 50% and built a 3500 m² pipe hall. In 2015, KIESELMANN Pharmatec GmbH was founded. The new company specialises in plant solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The acquisition of Guth Ventiltechnik secured jobs in Landau and expanded the valve programme of the KIESELMANN Fluid Process Group. A lot has also happened in our own product range: New control heads for the ATEX gas and dust areas, new control valve programme, new aseptic sampling valve series.

In 2016, the French KIESELMANN branch opened in Lille. In 2017, there was another major construction project. The former Knittlinger tennis hall, which later turned into a pipe storage and the KIESELMANN canteen, fell under the robot arm of the demolition excavator. A new production and office building with a company restaurant with a total usable area of 4000 m² was built there. KIESELMANN, a success storythat will be continued ...