From small workshop to large-scale plant builder

Polysius - a name of world renown for 150 years now: In spring 1859, master locksmith Andreas Ernst Gottfried Polysius established his own workshop in Dessau and thus laid the foundation stone for today's global player - ThyssenKrupp Polysius AG.

In 1870 he founded the G. Polysius iron foundry and engineering works, which made a name for itself with own-design mills in the still-young building materials industry. As early as 1890, the heirs of Gottfried Polysius booked their 100th mill order.

From then on, Polysius specialised in grinding and preparation machines, and in the construction of cement factories. The result: in 1898 the company installed the first cement rotary kiln in Europe and in 1907 constructed a complete cement plant in Egypt.

At the end of the 1920s, Dr. Georg Lellep designed the LEPOL^® travelling grate preheater, a system that revolutionised conventional cement manufacturing by significantly improving the clinker burning process in the rotary kiln and reducing the fuel consumption by one third. The LEPOL^® grate significantly improved the cement burning process in the rotary kiln and reduced fuel consumption by one third.

After the Second World War, Polysius initially resumed work in Dessau in 1946. However, Dr. Curt Prüssing, a member of the Polysius family, simultaneously founded Westpol GmbH in Beckum, which three years later changed its name to Polysius GmbH.

With the traditional name on its new signboard, the company quickly prospered, particularly in respect of export business. Ten years after resuming operations, Polysius employed 600 staff in West Germany and 100 abroad.

In 1971, the Essen-based industrial giant Fried. Krupp GmbH purchased a majority shareholding in Polysius.

1992 saw the company's incorporation into the Krupp plantmaking division, part of the group structure of Fried. Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp.

Another decisive milestone was set in 1999, 140 years after Polysius was founded, when Fried. Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp merged with the Thyssen Group to form ThyssenKrupp AG. ThyssenKrupp Polysius is a member of the Group's international business area 'Plant Technology'.

In 2009, ThyssenKrupp Polysius AG - now a worldwide enterprise - celebrated its 150th year of existence.