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History & development

1866

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.

1866
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1893

Construction of the ring kiln brickyard on Wockerather Weg in Erkelenz

1893

1904

Purchase of the brickyard by Wilhelm Gillrath

1904

1939

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

1939
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1945

Adolf Gillrath takes over the management of the company.

1945
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1964

Construction of an artificial drying

1964

1970

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

1970
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1994

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

1994
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2000

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

2000
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2008

Major Project "Art House" by Sergey Skuratov in Moscow

To project (DE only)

2008
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2009

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.

2009
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2010

resumption of production

2010

2013

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.

2013
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2014

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)

2014

2014

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

2014

2015

First major project in London with the "Bartlett School of Architecture" at UCL. This is associated with further expansion into new export markets.

to project (DE only)

2015
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2016

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

2016

2018

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

More information on our sustainability efforts

2018
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2019

Move into the new office building

2019

2019

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

2019

2020

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

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

2020

2021

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

2021

2022

Second energy consulting for medium-sized businesses.

2022

2022

Installation of electric vehicle charging stations on the factory premises.

2022

2022

First project in Australia.

2022

Gillrath Traditional Manufacture