Lochbühler Aufzüge: Three generations and 150 years

In a world of start-ups and constant change, a company that turns 150 is something quite special. The Mannheim company Lochbühler Aufzüge will be celebrating this extraordinary anniversary in 2023.

In the year of its 150th anniversary, Lochbühler Aufzüge GmbH is one the longstanding companies in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. Approximately 100 new lifts, including modernisations, are commissioned annually and several thousand lifts serviced by about 70 employees. To this day, the company with tradition is managed by representatives of the fourth, fifth and sixth generations named Lochbühler. The company headquarters is located in the modern building occupied a few years ago in the Mannheim Friedrichsfeld industrial estate.

The management and workforce intend to use the anniversary year to look back and reflect on their strengths. During the year, this will include many campaigns and events for employees, investing in the work-life balance with the 37.5 hour working week, the introduction of a new corporate design with new company logo and a modernised appearance of the Lochbühler brand.

The improvement of its own products, processes and services had always been a core part of the business for a technology company like Lochbühler, according to the company. "What the mechanisation of everyday life by machines was in the late nineteenth century and turn of the twentieth century are today the major themes of digitalisation, automation and sustainability. Being always open to new technologies, Lochbühler long since accepted the challenges of our era."

Foundation under Wilhelm I

Photo: © Lochbühler Aufzüge

The company founder Georg Lochbühler opened his blacksmith and wagonmaker company in 1873 in Seckenheim. Whereas in nearby Mannheim industrialisation was in full swing, Seckenheim remained dominated by agriculture.

In its first generations, Lochbühler laid the foundation for the company with a wide range of at the time innovative agricultural and domestic devices. Given the proximity to Mannheim, there was a great demand in the simultaneously middle class and rural region for mechanical devices, which the Lochbühler family designers recognised and served with developments of their own and with commercial goods.

The product range of the ironmonger for example included ovens, stoves, washing and sewing machines, agricultural machinery and not least bicycles, motorcycles and Opel passenger cars. Lifts only later came into play for the family company. The first lift was admittedly produced at the time of the Weimar Republic in 1925. However, the decision to concentrate solely on the new business field was only taken from 1960 under the management of the fourth generation with Karlheinz Lochbühler.

Three generations in the company

Photo: © Rene van der Voorden

In the anniversary year, three generations of the founder family are active in the company: senior director Karlheinz Lochbühler is still available round the clock with advice and assistance. His two sons Andreas and Stefan Lochbühler share the management. The first of the sixth generation has already entered the company in the person of Marc-Steffen Lochbühler. The new generation with Marc-Steffen and soon too Dominic have already declared their readiness to assume responsibility in a few years.

In the anniversary year, the Lochbühler family wish to thank the region, its people and not least their own employees and their families for their loyalty and support without whom "this unique generational project would not have been possible," according to the company.

There was an occasion for this on 17 June: "150 years Lochbühler" were celebrated on the company premises in Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld with about 700 invited guests, including Mannheim’s mayor, Dr Peter Kurz, who expressed his thanks for Lochbühler’s great commitment to social and cultural institutions in the city. The guests of honour also included the Chamber of Commerce chairman Manfred Schnabel, the chairman of the Mannheim Chamber of Handicrafts, Martin Schmitt and Dr Peter Hug, chairman and managing director of the VDMA Trade Association Lifts and Escalators as well as the VFA chairman Achim Hütter.

The history:
1873 Foundation in Seckenheim as blacksmith and wagonmaker
1905 Expansion to fitter’s shop and mechanical workshop
1925 Machines for the tobacco industry, first lift built
1960 Concentration on lift building with own production of almost all components
1981 Move to new office and production building in Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld
1990 Specialisation in lift construction, including explosion-protected lifts
2002 Certification of the company according to DIN ISO 9001:2000 and ARL 95/16/EC
2003 Lift museum in Seckenheim water tower
2005 Certification of service quality according to DIN EN 13015
2008 Recognition as "Service provider of the year"
2012 Opening of renovated water tower with expanded lift museum
2019 Move into new office building
2021 Entry of sixth generation with Marc-Steffen Lochbühler
2023 150th anniversary

More information: lochbuehler.de