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FORUM FIRMENJUBILÄUM • COMPANY ANNIVERSARY

I t is in the year 1827 that the papermaker Friedrich Erfurt obtains the licence to operate
a facility for making paper, a paper mill. At the chosen location Dahlhausen, in the
Ennepe-Ruhr district, the necessary resources water and wood are abundant. When the
first paper machine is set up in 1844, it becomes possible to markedly increase the pro-
duction output. In the middle of the 1850s and under the aegis of Heinrich Erfurt’s widow
Auguste Clementine and her sons, the production increasingly shifts to making raw paper
for producing wallpaper. But it is not a papermaker but a pharmacist in the family who
started the development of woodchip wallpaper. Hugo Erfurt, a grandson of the company
founder, tries to create new types of paper and, in the process, produces paper for desi-
gning shop windows – the precursor of today’s woodchip wallpaper.
Competence in special papers

The fourth Erfurt generation continuously invests in new production plants so that it
becomes possible to enter the North-America business and, starting in 1900, produce a
Stapelweise Papier: das Papierlager von Erfurt & Sohn in Wuppertal broad range of types of paper. This expansion is thwarted due to the First World War. For
a short time, the machines are also used for producing paper for emergency currency.
After this, the company again continues the production of various types of special papers.
Erfurt bypasses the effects of the British custom policy by founding an English subsidiary.
Blick in die Produktion: Die Tapete läuft über die Rolle.
What is needed now is above all blackout paper, packing paper for the industry and raw
roofing paper. After the war ends, the plant – heavily damaged by bombs – is expanded
with new buildings because wall coverings are in great demand at the time of the recon-
struction. Around 1950, the product range is extremely diversified. Besides marbled
paper for file folders, there are now unusual special types of paper such as black echo-
sounder paper for devices used to locate shoals of fish or black-red duplex paper for reels
of film. In 1960, the family business invests in the new PM 3 paper machine on the other
side of the River Wupper. In 1969 woodchip wallpaper arrives in wholesale trading: This
is the hour of birth of the Erfurt brand. One year later, the PN 4 goes into operation which
is able to produce all varieties of woodchip wallpaper. The year 1972 means major
changes. Together with the largest British wallpaper manufacturer Crown, Erfurt establis-
hes the Erfurt Crown brand. The aim is to sell Anyglypta paintable embossed wallpaper
which is successful in Great Britain. At the time, the latter has the same status in England
as woodchip wallpaper has in this country and, from then on, fills a market niche in
Germany. By taking over the Atlanta wallpaper factory, apart from woodchip there is now
also wallpaper in the Henrik Erfurt range and it is able to continuously grow in signifi-
Luftaufnahme des Werksgeländes beiderseits der Wupper
cance. Besides woodchip products, in more than 30 countries Erfurt today sells ecologi-
cally sustainable wall coverings such as nonwoven, flat-woven and embossed wallpaper.
Renewable raw materials from sustainable forestry are predominantly used for the pro-
duction. In the course of the German Reunification, the Wuppertal wallpaper manufac-
turer is furthermore able to open new sales markets in the newly formed German states.
Starting in 1995, DIY markets are for the first time directly supplied with Erfurt products.
In 1997, major investments in alternative, energy-saving production methods lead to the
patent for the worldwide first 3-ply embossed wallpaper. One year later, in the context of
a corporate design update, the company is renamed Erfurt & Sohn.

The seventh Erfurt generation: innovations and acquisitions

In 2002, when the 175th company anniversary is celebrated, Martin and Henrik Erfurt are
in control of the fate of the company. The two cousins represent the two lineages of the
family which each own half of the company. Martin Erfurt, who studied business admi-
nistration and economics, is in charge of the commercial side, the chemist and mecha-
nical engineer Henrik Erfurt of all technical matters. In 2005, the innovative Erfurt façade
system comes onto the market, the “wallpaper for outside”. Erfurt & Sohn counters the
global financial crisis of 2008 with sustainability, continuity and innovation. A response
to the trend towards walls which can be individually designed is the Erfurt-On wall digital
photo wallpaper. In addition, the company enters the business of terrace boards consi-
sting of wood-polymer materials. This is followed by Erfurt-Eco-Vlies, the first smooth
non-woven material made of recycled paper and fabric fibres. Through acquisitions, the
Wuppertal company keeps generating growth. In 2013, the traditional company takes
over the British Juicy Walls start-up in order to, from then on, supply high-quality photo
wallpaper printed on Erfurt Vlies which can be digitally individualized. In 2013 Erfurt also
takes over the Kobau GmbH, a specialist for the renovation of joints and cracks in walls.
In the year of the 150th anniversary, the KlimaTec system is launched on the market, a
solution for energetically optimizing inside walls. Change has always been the company’s
driving force. It will be interesting to see the future developments.

036 • AIT 9.2017