Tradition and progress
Tradition and the future go hand in hand at KATZ. In fact, we’ve hand our finger on the pulse of the world ever since the company was founded over three hundred years ago.
1716
Johann Georg Katz buys his fist sawmill in Gernsbach, laying the foundation for the company.
1846
The company continues to grow and develop under his successors. Casimir Rudolf Katz buys the community sawmill in Weisenbach, which is where KATZ is located today.
1858
The Industrial Revolution results in high demand for railroad ties and utility poles for phone and power lines. They are impregnated at the Gernsbach mill.
1865
Casimir Rudolf Katz is a pioneer in the wood impregnation industry. He is the first entrepreneur in Germany to use the kyanizing wood preservation method, which makes wood particularly durable.
1872
A new saw and the first water turbine are installed at the Weisenbach mill.
1883 -
1889
The sawmills produce significant amounts of wood waste. Three pulp mills are built in order to make use of this waste. The groundwood pulp that is produced is sold to paper mills.
1892
Robert Sputh, from Dresden, patents a method for pouring liquid wood pulp into molds and letting it dry, and notes, in that very patent, that the absorbent properties of the resulting mat make the latter ideal for use as a beer mug coaster.
1903
Beer coaster production operations start in Weisenbach. The process consists of making wood pulp board sheets and then punching the coasters out from the sheets by hand.
1914 – 1918
Production ceases in Weisenbach due to the war; all employees are conscripted.
1931
KATZ is granted the patent for a beer mat pouring machine. It has a capacity of 30,000 coasters per day and works similarly to a motor: With each cycle, the exact amount of groundwood pulp required for one beer mat is injected into a cylinder with a screening bottom. The piston is lowered, squeezes the compound together, and dewaters it.
1942 - 1945
World War II interrupts the company’s successful evolution. The sawmill continues operations, while the board and coaster factory stops operations in 1944. Production is resumed in 1946.
1960
In the middle of what was dubbed the country’s “economic miracle,” demand for beverage coasters in Germany grows to such an extent that the beer mat machine hits its limits. A Fourdrinier machine is put into operation at the Weisenbach plant in order to increase the production volume. To this very day, this is the machine we use as a basis to make the wood pulp board for our products.
1974
Designing punched beverage coasters with letterpress printing is extremely time-consuming. Our first four-color offset printing machine prints whole sheets and then punches out the beverage coasters. This increases capacity to five million units per day.
80s and 90s
Acquisitions and sales of other companies, a large fire, a merger with Pfleiderer – the company goes through a rapid succession of changes.
2009
KATZ becomes part of the Koehler Group. The family company has developed and produced premium specialty paper products for more than 200 years.
2015
The two hydroelectric power stations are upgraded. At the same time, a fish ladder helps restore the ecological richness of the Murg river. This investment in a more sustainable corporate strategy costs almost four million euros – a price well worth paying. And now we cover more than half of our power needs with energy from renewable sources.
2020
The Koehler Group publishes its first sustainability report. The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals include eleven to which the group of companies – KATZ included – is already contributing. And we want to keep boosting our efforts in the future in this regard.
2024
KATZ produces more beverage coasters than ever before. The Weisenbach site hits its limits. To address this situation, beverage coasters will now be printed on, punched out, and sent across the world in Willstätt.
… and in the
future
The Koehler Promise: To generate more energy from renewable sources with our own facilities than the energy we need for our paper and board production operations by 2030 at the latest.