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The current THALETEC has emerged from the
Thale ironworks.
The origins of the Thale ironworks date
back to the 17th century.
On June 8, 1686, a contract for establishing
a metallurgical plant in the county of Reinstein,
"not far from the valley", was
signed at Potsdam between the Great Electoral
Prince and Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen,
inspector and senior civil servant, as well
as the latter's son Georg Gabriel Wichmannshausen,
who was to become Court Councilor later.
By this contract, Wichmannshausen was granted
mining rights in the whole principality
of Halberstadt, in the county of Reinstein,
in the districts of Derenburg and Stecklenberg.
The location of the ironworks was excellent
at that time. The iron ores were obtained
from the nearby mines, the necessary amounts
of charcoal from the forests, and the Bode
river provided the power necessary to operate
the blowers for the blast furnaces, the
refining forges and the pick hammers. However,
the works were not able to survive because
of the rising prices for charcoal. Instead
of the ironworks, Court Councilor Johann
Wichmannshausen established 3 oil mills.
In the year 1770, the ironworks were reestablished
by the Chamberlain and Lord Marshal Count
v. Redern, and became part of the possessions
of Frederick the Great in the year 1778
who caused the blast furnaces and the pick
hammer to be supplemented by a foundry for
black plate and thin sheet material and
renamed the shop "Sheetworks".
Frederick the Great supported the works
a lot. He established the miners' fund and
the so-called works school that continued
in existence until 1862 when it still was
the only elementary school in place.
 By
the contract dated October 14, 1820, the
works were given to master smelter Johann
Karl Bennighaus on a hereditary lease against
payment of a one-time amount of 800 Thalers
and an annual hereditary rent of 300 Thalers.
Probably as a result of the law dated March
02, 1850, the hereditary lease was replaced
by ownership, because when he died in the
year 1862, "Bergrat" (mining councilor)
Benninghaus was referred to as the owner
of the ironworks. During that time, 4 refining
forges were operated in the ironworks. The
blast furnaces previously existing in Thale
had been closed down for lack of suitable
ore qualities. The raw iron needed for the
refining forges was obtained from the blast
furnaces in Rottleberode belonging to the
same owner from where it was brought by
wagons. The output of these 4 refining forges
was about 800 kg in 24 hours. Further processing
was accomplished by 10 tilt and drop hammers
all of which were operated by water wheels.
The products included axles, metal sheets,
iron rods and tires for agricultural carts.
In the year 1831, Germany's first iron car
axle was supposedly produced in the works.
In the year 1845, 20 to 25 axles of this
type were produced every day. In addition
to turning axles, the works produced nails,
so-called plank nails, and operated a plate
roll and a sheet enameling system. Thicker
sheets, so-called pressed sheets, were already
rolled, whereas thin sheets were exclusively
forged under a hammer.
In addition, cooking utensils were made
from the forged sheets as of the year 1835,
which at that time could be enameled inside
only by applying two coats of glass. The
outside and the border were painted with
black varnish. Thus, the Thale ironworks
were the first factory in Germany to produce
enameled cooking utensils. It continued
to develop this field of activity and became
the biggest enameling plant in continental
Europe, whose products were extremely popular
and were transported in large numbers even
to the most remote parts of the world.
In 1835 the glassing of pots and pans started and approx. 100 years ago, the factory started manufacturing glass lined vessels for the chemical industry of the time. It is an undisputable fact that the foundation stone for the industrial use of glass coats was laid in Thale. Beginning with very simple vessels back then, the development quickly turned to reactors which still were of a simple nature, compared to today's requirements.
Where GMP is a must today, simple flange connections with equally simple gaskets were used back then. During its heyday, the factory employed approx. 800 people making 1,200 vessels and 500 reactors of various sizes every year.
As a member of the Schunk Group from 1997 to 2007, a worldwide technology group employing approx. 7,500 people, Thale Email had the opportunity to invest considerable sums into the various parts of the company in order to not only survive in the European competitive environment, but also to increase the market share. In this context, investments were made in technologies that ensured streamlining of our production and shorter lead times, thus promoting Thale EMAIL to the group of market leaders. Milestones in development include products such as glass lined U tube bundle heat exchangers that features a worldwide unique technique of fastening the tubes. Other products, such as valves and the Thale pharma glass, round off the program range to meet all our customers' requirements.
On October 1 st 2007, EHW Thale EMAIL GmbH was acquired by three private investors, Karl Bergmann, Jürgen Schleich and Dr. Jürgen Reinemuth. Since that time, the company has relied on continuous organic growth on the basis of proven technologies and highly motivated personnel committed to quality. The company is realigning its business and places the supply of the market with high-quality spare parts and services as well the production and further development of glass lined apparatus technology in the focus of its activities.
In October 2007, EHW THALE Email GmbH was
acquired by three private investors, Karl
Bergmann, Jürgen Schleich and Dr. Jürgen
Reinemuth. Since that time, the company
has relied on continuous organic growth
on the basis of proven technologies and
highly motivated personnel committed to
quality. The company is realigning its business
and places the supply of the market with
high-quality spare parts and services as
well the production and further development
of glass lined apparatus technology in the
focus of its activities.
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