The current THALETEC has emerged from the Thale ironworks.

The origins of the Thale ironworks date back to the 17th century.
On June 8, 1686, a contract for establishing a metallurgical plant in the county of Reinstein, "not far from the valley", was signed at Potsdam between the Great Electoral Prince and Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen, inspector and senior civil servant, as well as the latter`s son Georg Gabriel Wichmannshausen, who was to become Court Councilor later. By this contract, Wichmannshausen was granted mining rights in the whole principality of Halberstadt, in the county of Reinstein, in the districts of Derenburg and Stecklenberg.

The location of the ironworks was excellent at that time. The iron ores were obtained from the nearby mines, the necessary amounts of charcoal from the forests, and the Bode river provided the power necessary to operate the blowers for the blast furnaces, the refining forges and the pick hammers. However, the works were not able to survive because of the rising prices for charcoal. Instead of the ironworks, Court Councilor Johann Wichmannshausen established 3 oil mills.

In the year 1770, the ironworks were reestablished by the Chamberlain and Lord Marshal Count v. Redern, and became part of the possessions of Frederick the Great in the year 1778 who caused the blast furnaces and the pick hammer to be supplemented by a foundry for black plate and thin sheet material and renamed the shop "Sheetworks".
Frederick the Great supported the works a lot. He established the miners` fund and the so-called works school that continued in existence until 1862 when it still was the only elementary school in place.

By the contract dated October 14, 1820, the works were given to master smelter Johann Karl Bennighaus on a hereditary lease against payment of a one-time amount of 800 Thalers and an annual hereditary rent of 300 Thalers.

Probably as a result of the law dated March 02, 1850, the hereditary lease was replaced by ownership, because when he died in the year 1862, "Bergrat" (mining councilor) Benninghaus was referred to as the owner of the ironworks. During that time, 4 refining forges were operated in the ironworks. The blast furnaces previously existing in Thale had been closed down for lack of suitable ore qualities. The raw iron needed for the refining forges was obtained from the blast furnaces in Rottleberode belonging to the same owner from where it was brought by wagons. The output of these 4 refining forges was about 800 kg in 24 hours. Further processing was accomplished by 10 tilt and drop hammers all of which were operated by water wheels. The products included axles, metal sheets, iron rods and tires for agricultural carts.

In the year 1831, Germany`s first iron car axle was supposedly produced in the works. In the year 1845, 20 to 25 axles of this type were produced every day. In addition to turning axles, the works produced nails, so-called plank nails, and operated a plate roll and a sheet enameling system. Thicker sheets, so-called pressed sheets, were already rolled, whereas thin sheets were exclusively forged under a hammer.
In addition, cooking utensils were made from the forged sheets as of the year 1835, which at that time could be enameled inside only by applying two coats of glass. The outside and the border were painted with black varnish. Thus, the Thale ironworks were the first factory in Germany to produce enameled cooking utensils. It continued to develop this field of activity and became the biggest enameling plant in continental Europe, whose products were extremely popular and were transported in large numbers even to the most remote parts of the world.

In 1835 the glassing of pots and pans started and approx. 100 years ago, the factory started manufacturing glass lined vessels for the chemical industry of the time. It is an undisputable fact that the foundation stone for the industrial use of glass coats was laid in Thale. Beginning with very simple vessels back then, the development quickly turned to reactors which still were of a simple nature, compared to today`s requirements.

Where GMP is a must today, simple flange connections with equally simple gaskets were used back then. During its heyday, the factory employed approx. 800 people making 1,200 vessels and 500 reactors of various sizes every year.
As a member of the Schunk Group from 1997 to 2007, a worldwide technology group employing approx. 7,500 people, Thale Email had the opportunity to invest considerable sums into the various parts of the company in order to not only survive in the European competitive environment, but also to increase the market share. In this context, investments were made in technologies that ensured streamlining of our production and shorter lead times, thus promoting Thale EMAIL to the group of market leaders. Milestones in development include products such as glass lined U tube bundle heat exchangers that features a worldwide unique technique of fastening the tubes. Other products, such as valves and the Thale pharma glass, round off the program range to meet all our customers` requirements.

On October 1 st 2007, EHW Thale EMAIL GmbH was acquired by three private investors, Karl Bergmann, Jürgen Schleich and Dr. Jürgen Reinemuth. Since that time, the company has relied on continuous organic growth on the basis of proven technologies and highly motivated personnel committed to quality. The company is realigning its business and places the supply of the market with high-quality spare parts and services as well the production and further development of glass lined apparatus technology in the focus of its activities.

In October 2007, EHW THALE Email GmbH was acquired by three private investors, Karl Bergmann, Jürgen Schleich and Dr. Jürgen Reinemuth. Since that time, the company has relied on continuous organic growth on the basis of proven technologies and highly motivated personnel committed to quality. The company is realigning its business and places the supply of the market with high-quality spare parts and services as well the production and further development of glass lined apparatus technology in the focus of its activities.

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