History

Company founded under the title of  'Aktiengesellschaft Ilseder Hütte‘ with headquarters in Peine in the Kingdom of Hanover, for the purpose of manufacturing pig iron from the ore discovered in the area between Hanover and Magdeburg. The shareholders were primarily local landowners and merchants. The company acquired mining concessions and began to extract ore (discontinued in 1977) in Bülten, Lengede and Dörnten, as well as setting up a blast furnace in Groß Ilsede.

Acquisition of the Peiner Walzwerk corporation (founded 1872) in Peine, where a steelworks was established. The rolling mills were gradually extended to produce sections of various types, especially the heavy beams renowned to this day as "Peiner Träger“.

Acquisition of the coal mines 'Friedrich der Große‘ in Herne, Westphalia, and 'Preussische Clus‘ in Minden in order to safeguard the supplies of coal required for pig iron manufacturing. The company ceased mining its own coal in 1969.

Merger with Salzgitter Hüttenwerk AG. The latter's operations in Salzgitter – including the blast furnace plant, steelworks and rolling mills – were folded into Ilseder Hütte in return for shares. At the same time the company's name was changed to 'Stahlwerke Peine-Salzgitter AG‘. Salzgitter Hüttenwerk AG, a subsidiary of the then government-owned Salzgitter AG, had acquired the plant in 1953 from Reichswerke AG für Erzbergbau und Eisenhütten.

Production of crude iron concentrated in Salzgitter with the closure of the blast furnace plant in Groß Ilsede after 123 years of operation in which time 51 million tons of pig iron had been produced.

The government-owned firm of Salzgitter AG – the parent of Salzgitter Hüttenwerk AG which meanwhile held a 99 % stake in Stahlwerke Peine-Salzgitter AG – sold to Preussag AG. As a result in 1992 Stahlwerke Peine-Salzgitter AG was renamed 'Preussag Stahl AG‘.

Preussag Stahl AG purchased plate manufacturer Walzwerk Ilsenburg GmbH in Ilsenburg/Sachsen-Anhalt (which can trace its origins back to the copper mill Ilsenburger Kupferhammer founded in 1595) from the Treuhandanstalt, the agency set up to privatize former state-owned businesses in East Germany.

The (99 %) stake in Preussag Stahl AG held by Salzgitter Hüttenwerk AG sold to the state of Lower Saxony and Norddeutsche Landesbank. Preussag Stahl AG renamed 'Salzgitter AG‘; the bulk of the shares held by the state of Lower Saxony and the Landesbank were placed on the stock exchange.

Acquisition of 99 % of the shares in Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG, Mülheim/Ruhr - founded in 1890 and renowned worldwide for the manufacture of seamless steel tubes using processes invented by the Mannesmann brothers.

Acquisition on an approx. 86 % stake in Klöckner-Werke AG, whose subsidiaries operate on an international basis. Its business activities are centered on KHS AG, which ranks among the world market leaders in beverage filling and packaging systems. The company is also active in the fields of plastics processing machinery and food processing technology.