How innovation became tradition

A short journey through the history of Büttner

150 years of Büttner – a long time.

A lot of water has literally flowed down the Rhine since then. At the time, Uerdingen was still an independent town in the newly established German Empire (it did not merge administratively with Krefeld until 1929).

Industry flourished nonetheless and the location on the banks of the Rhine as well as the railway links made it a great place to establish a modern boiler factory.

Well, that was what August Büttner thought. August Büttner came from a family that had already left its mark in Thuringia, Brunswick and Westphalia by the end of the 16th century. August himself was born as the first of nine children in Rahden (Westphalia) in 1846. He became interested in mechanical engineering at an early age and studied at the Königliche Gewerbeakademie (Royal Commercial Academy) in Berlin in the 1860s before broadening the scope of his scientific knowledge as an assistant at the Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Aachen. His great interest in water tube boilers crystallised there and he began to develop his own designs. He joined forces with Rudolph Keller, Henrich Mauritz and Otto Keller – people he was able to inspire with his dream of running his own factory – to finally establish the RHEINISCHE RÖHRENDAMPFKESSEL-FABRIK AUGUST BÜTTNER & CO in Uerdingen in 1874, the precursor to today’s Büttner Energie- und Trocknungstechnik GmbH, and begin manufacturing modern steam boilers.

He wrote the greeting “GLÜCK AUF!” (‘GOOD LUCK!’) on the first page of the company’s journal. But besides good fortune, it was INNOVATION and QUALITY above all that became the driving forces that led to the factory’s success. August Büttner said it himself: “Progress lies in the technical. Our water tube boilers are becoming increasingly popular in spite of all the challenges. Their characteristics are high pressure, small footprint, low price, easy repair. Production is well organised so that we’re able to manufacture more cheaply than our competitors.”

The early years were eventful but, in 1886, Büttner was able to enter a segment for the first time that to this day still constitutes the core of the company’s activities: drying. The award-winning turner-drying system – Dr Carl Meyer played a decisive role in its development – was first used in the sugar-beet industry and contributed significantly to the commercial success of Büttner, which had been operating as RHEINISCHE DAMPFKESSEL- UND MASCHINENFABRIK BÜTTNER & CO. GMBH since 1903. Büttner had already developed its international orientation with major orders from all over the world by then.

August Büttner died in 1919. He had wanted his two sons to take over running the company but they had tragically also passed away by this time: Georg was killed in the First World War, August jun. had succumbed to the flu. The company was continued in line with the founder’s principles. The ownership shares were restructured, which resulted in the limited liability company becoming a public limited company – BÜTTNER-WERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT.

More innovations, more company investments and mergers and another war followed. A lot has changed over time, some things, however, have (almost) stayed the same. For example, the ‘Büttner newts’. Actually fire- and steam-breathing snakes, the Büttner newts are still to be found in the company logo today. They were taken from the Büttner’s family coat of arms, on which two snakes wind around the wand of Mercury.

Krefeld – to which Uerdingen now belongs – also remained the location for the company’s headquarters. Büttner became a subsidiary of the Krefeld-based Siempelkamp Group in 1995. But the fields of business were continuously expanded. A merger with Siempelkamp Energy Systems SES in Hanover in 2012 resulted in the energy-systems business unit becoming another mainstay within the new BÜTTNER ENERGIE- UND TROCKNUNGSTECHNIK GMBH. And Kaiserslautern became Büttner’s most recent and third location when the competence centre for environmental technology was opened there in 2022, underpinning Büttner's status as the world’s leading supplier of comprehensive systems in the field of heat generation and drying technology.

Now, in 2024, 150 years after the company was established, the team at Büttner still feels committed to the founder’s values. Innovation has become tradition. It’s an aspiration that Büttner intends to pursue in the years and decades to come, for the benefit of its customers and partners.

That’s why the motto remains: Good luck  – with innovation and quality!