History & development

First mention of brick production by the Gillrath family.

Contract for the delivery of approx. 200,000 bricks for the construction of the church St. Valentin in Venrath is signed by Leopold Gillrath and the church council.

Construction of the ring kiln brickyard on Wockerather Weg in Erkelenz

Purchase of the brickyard by Wilhelm Gillrath

Death of Wilhelm Gillrath, transfer of property to his wife Helene

Adolf Gillrath takes over the management of the company.

Construction of an artificial drying

Conversion of the main fuel source from coal to gas, clinker bricks with coal scorch marks continued to be produced.

Death of Adolf Gillrath; he is succeeded as owner and managing director by his son Heinrich Gillrath.

First delivery to the Zollverein Coal Mine - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Major Project "Art House" by Sergey Skuratov in Moscow

To project (DE only)

Major fire in the brickworks, whereby the entire roof of the hall above the ring kiln was destroyed. The ring kiln itself was not damaged.

resumption of production

Bastian and Marcus Gillrath join the company. Bastian Gillrath as ceramic engineer takes over the management of the plant. Marcus Gillrath takes over the sales management and the marketing as a business administrator.

Commissioning of a Petersen water-struck press. As a result, the product range was expanded by a variety of new clinker brick types.

More information on the water-struck clinker
Water-struck brick types (DE only)
Projects with water-struck clinker bricks (DE only)

First 'Energy Consulting for Medium-Sized Companies' and thus the start of our intensified efforts on the way to sustainable clinker production.

More about sustainability at the clinker plant

To celebrate the 150th anniversary, a large festive event with numerous invited guests takes place.

Installation of a microturbine to produce heat and electricity for the drying plant.

More information on our sustainability efforts

Move into the new office building

Start of the largest project to date: the W&W Campus for Wüstenrot & Württembergische Versicherungs AG in Kornwestheim

Commissioning of our own steaming kiln for the finishing of our clinker assortment.

Steamed clinker (DE only)
Projects with steamed clinker (DE only)

Project in Juist, for which our clinkers had to be transported to the construction site by horse-drawn carriage.

Second energy consulting for medium-sized businesses.

Installation of electric vehicle charging stations on the factory premises.

First project in Australia.