1949

The engineer Edwin Rothenberger founded the company on 24 May 1949 as a trading house in Frankfurt am Main.

The range of products included tools, machines and welding technology - the joining of pipes was the focus of the business activity. The customers liked the range of products, so the company grew steadily and expanded several times in Frankfurt within a short time.

1967

At the International Trade Fair for Sanitary and Heating Technology (ISH) in 1967, ROTHENBERGER presented the so-called R-System, which contributed significantly to the company's success.

The R-System consisted of tools for expanding, necking and bending pipes and enabled plumbers to connect pipes without fittings: It eliminated the need for soldered joints, T-pieces and L-bends, thus saving the end user both time and material.

1974

The high demand for ROTHENBERGER products soon led to relocation and expansion. During 1974, the company moved to Kelkheim near Frankfurt, and the second generation of the Rothenberger family took over management. Heavy investment was made into developing the company, and in 1985, Dr. Helmut Rothenberger became CEO of ROTHENBERGER AG (which all ROTHENBERGER companies still belong to today). By 2013, Dr. Helmut Rothenberger joined the Supervisory Board, and Dr. Christian Heine was employed as CEO of ROTHENBERGER AG since 2016.

2000s

Thanks to the user-friendliness, quality and durability of its products, ROTHENBERGER has earned itself a place in the toolboxes of trade professionals. Over several decades, the company built up and expanded its capacities and opened up more and more markets.

The family business conquered the market for pipe tools in other countries by setting up its own subsidiaries in countries outside Germany and investing in international brands such as VIRAX in France and North Africa and SUPER-EGO in Spain and Latin America.

In addition, the Rothenberger family added special know-how to the core business through acquisitions of companies related to pipe tools and machines. In this way, the company continued to develop pipe tools and related technologies - always with the users of the tools in mind.

2010s

We see ourselves as a cosmopolitan family that tackles new challenges with courage and entrepreneurial spirit and always faces any conditions and requirements in a straightforward manner.

We believe in quality, diligence, dynamism and respect and see these as the guidelines for our entrepreneurial actions. In line with this corporate philosophy, we have identified 7 ROTHENBERGER core values that we base our actions on.

  • Cohesion as a family
  • Trust
  • responsibility
  • Efficiency
  • Quality
  • Courage
  • Entrepreneurship