The company was founded by Paul Dürr in Cannstatt in 1896 as a sheet metal workshop. Otto Dürr took over the business as the second generation and in turn brought his son Heinz on board in the 1950s. Heinz Dürr turned the small industrial company into a mechanical and plant engineering firm that operates on a global level. Today, the Group has around 18,000 employees in 33 countries and is targeting sales of just over €4 billion this year.
Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister for Economic Affairs, emphasized that “the history of Dürr AG is extraordinary even by Swabian standards”. Looking at the present and the future, she said: “Dürr AG has its finger on the pulse. It is a pioneer of climate-neutral production. It researches, develops, and works exactly where key technology fields converge, for instance in battery manufacture, the use of AI and state-of-the-art robot technology, the megatrend of energy efficiency and digital platforms.”
Albrecht Reimold, Member of Porsche’s Executive Board for Production and Logistics, paid tribute to the close cooperation with Dürr: “Our partnership goes back a very long way. We have successfully completed many large, important projects together. With its innovative solutions, Dürr AG plays an important part in our flexible production system.” In addition, Albrecht Reimold emphasized Dürr’s significance in the automotive industry’s transformation toward electric mobility: “Through the newly established Cellforce Group, Porsche is moving into the production of high-performance battery cells. Here, too, we enjoy the support of Dürr as our partner – with an innovative system for coating electrodes.”
Dr. Jochen Weyrauch, CEO of Dürr AG, thanked the Dürr family, which had three generations represented at the celebrations in Stuttgart: “The entrepreneurial spirit of the founder family still leaves its mark on us today. The Dürr history has become a success story because there have always been people who are fascinated by new technology and who prefer to deal with solutions rather than problems.”
Taking the stage, Heinz Dürr and Dr. Jochen Weyrauch together looked at the history, culture, and future of the company. Heinz Dürr, whose family holds almost 30% of the Dürr AG shares, emphasized his guiding principle of the “company as a social organization.” The Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board made special mention of the important role the employees play in the company’s success: “It´s all about the employees, they have always been the foundation of our company. My most important advice to them is: stay hungry!”, said Heinz Dürr.
On Saturday, Dürr is holding a big family party for its employees. Around 4,000 guests are expected to attend this event at the Bietigheim-Bissingen headquarters. Dürr had initially planned to celebrate its anniversary in 2021 but had to postpone due to the coronavirus pandemic.
