More than 50 years of Endress+Hauser

More than 50 years ago, on 1 February 1953, the Swiss engineer Georg H Endress and the German banker Ludwig Hauser founded the L Hauser KG in Lörrach, Germany.

The company began its activities with the sale of an innovative electronic (capacitive) level sensor imported from England and the first company premises were a converted bedroom. Despite these humble beginnings, the level sensor soon became a success, and the founders quickly began building up their own production facilities. From then on, the company was set for continuous growth.

Sales were concentrated in southern Germany in the early years, but were extended to the whole of Germany and then to neighboring countries. Level sensors with different measurement principles were added to the capacitive sensors.

Later, sensors and devices for other physical variables such as pressure, flow, analysis, temperature and technical components were also developed, produced and sold, with sales and services expanded throughout the whole of western Europe. The first overseas branch offices opened in Japan and the USA in the 1970s.

In the 1980s the company started a campaign to meet the 'challenge of microelectronics' and to take over the technological lead. The transition from signal-oriented to information-oriented process automation forced Endress+Hauser to seek active participation in various fieldbus initiatives; today the company ranks as global market leader.

In 1995, Dr h.c. Georg H Endress passed the leadership of the company to his second eldest son, Klaus Endress, who had previously acted as the Group's Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

During the past 10 years, the Swiss Group evolved continuously from being a manufacturer of sensors for the process automation industry to becoming an international provider of automation solutions mainly for the process industries, offering a multitude of sensors suited for industrial processes.

Today, Endress+Hauser offers a broad range of services along with the most comprehensive array of industrial sensors on the market. Endress+Hauser owns subsidiaries on all six continents and, more than 50 years after its foundation, employs a workforce of over 7000 personnel in production, sales and services worldwide.