A tradition in stone construction - and a company as old as the USA
1776
On 11 March 1776, Johann Heinrich Wimmel founded the company in Berlin. In close cooperation with the most renowned architects and builders of the time, prestigious buildings were developed in Berlin, among them the Brandenburg Gate by Carl Gotthard Langhans and Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Neue Wache (New Guard House) and his Schauspielhaus theatre on the Gendarmenmarkt. The first major commission of the newly founded stone mason's company was the construction of the Königskolonnaden (Royal Colonnades).
1853
The Victory Column (Siegessäule) in Berlin marks the beginning of a successful cooperation between the brothers Otto and Carl Zeidler, which would continue for many generations to come.
1872
The Zeidler brothers and Paul Wimmel enter into a joint venture and found the stonemasonry business Zeidler and Wimmel in Bunzlau. Over the course of the next few years, several quarries are opened in Alt-Warthau, Rackwitz, Sirkwitz, Plagwitz and Hockenau (in today's Poland). In its heyday, the company helps construct the Reichstag (German Parliament) building, the Berlin Cathedral, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Frankfurt's city hall "Römer", the Rochus Chapel in Bingen and the Stieglitz Museum in St. Petersburg.
1907 – 1920 Industrialisation takes its course
Opening of new quarries, the establishment of a stone production site and the acquisition of a shell limestone quarry in Kirchheim. Adalbert Metzing becomes the new owner of the company in 1907. In the course of the company's expansion, more contracts are assigned from abroad, including prestigious buildings, such as the city hall of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, buildings in Russia, and the State Bank in Rosario in Argentina (1928 – 1929) as well as an office building in Buenos Aires.
1939
The company owns 7 processing plants, 21 quarries and employs 1,600 workers.
1945 – 1946 A new beginning
At the end of World War II, all quarries and factories in Silesia are lost. Fortunately, one shell limestone quarry and the plant at Kirchheim, near Würzburg, can be retained. The company ultimately establishes its headquarters in Kirchheim. The plant is rebuilt to be state-of-the-art. Zeidler & Wimmel is represented across Germany with its own branches and makes a major contribution with its natural stone to the rebuilding of public, commercial and private buildings in the new Federal Republic.
1984 – 2004
Zeidler & Wimmel becomes the wholly-owned subsidiary of Philipp Holzmann AG in Frankfurt.
Integrated within a strong group since 2004
Herbert Geiger, owner of Geiger GmbH Stein- und Schotterwerke, headquartered in Pfraundorf, near Kinding, decides to expand the Geiger Group's portfolio by acquiring the tradition-steeped Zeidler & Wimmel company. Thanks to substantial investments, the processing plant in Kirchheim undergoes an innovation boost. Zeidler & Wimmel’s forward-looking and constantly updated technology enables the effective implementation of major assignments to the highest quality standards.
