A SUCCESS STORY FROM THE HEART OF GERMANY
The story of the HÜBNER Group begins in the year 1946. In the difficult days following the end of the war, 40-year-old Kurt Hübner set up a company for the production and repair of rubber articles as a new arrival in Kassel. He had just come to Kassel with his family the previous year after having to flee from the Saxon city of Lugau as the Russian Army advanced. He had acquired his knowledge about rubber and its processing from his work repairing conveyor belts in the coal mines of Saxony. Kurt received support with the new business venture from his father-in-law Georg Schnellhas, who was a highly skilled craftsman and had worked as a foreman at Henschel prior to the founding of the company, and from his wife Anne Hübner who brought her accounting skills to the company. The workshop quickly established itself as a specialist for rubber production and as the regional expert for special developments in the field. The owner and his employees went on to bring numerous new products to the market which quickly came to set the benchmark for various industries. From folding bellows to tunable lasers, today the products of HÜBNER are in daily use around the world.
Milestones in the history of the HÜBNER Group
1946
Founding of the company by Kurt Hübner in Kassel, Germany. Start of rubber production activities.
1951
Production of the first folding bellows and rubber tubing connections for railway cars of the Deutsche Bahn.
1952
Development of the first articulated buses together with the company Henschel.
1956
Development of aerodynamic, sound-insulated gangways for the Trans Europe Express (TEE).
1968
Start of polyurethane production.
1970
HÜBNER passenger boarding bridges designed with folding bellows are put into use at Frankfurt Airport for the first time.
1973
Change of company name to HÜBNER GmbH.
1979
Development of the first corrugated bellows.
Founding of HUBNER Sanfonas Industriais Ltda. in Brazil, the company's first international production location.
1985
Death of company founder Kurt Hübner. Reinhard Hübner assumes leadership of the company.
1986
First translucent folding bellows.
1989
Development and production of high-speed gangways for Intercity Express trains in Germany.
New folding bellows types for truck trailers, freight trains and for flexible connections between containers.
1990
Delivery of the world's then largest railway gangway for the car transport trains used in the Eurotunnel between England and France.
1994
Start of plastic injection molding production.
1995
Establishment of production facilities in the USA.
First gangways meeting the highest fire safety requirements (BS 6853 1a).
1997
Establishment of production facilities in Hungary.
2000
Start of the production of window systems for public transport vehicles.
Start of serial production of corrugated folding bellows using molded fabrics.
2002
Establishment of production facilities in China.
2003
Establishment of production facilities in Russia and a sales location in Sweden.
2004
Start of production of ramps and lifts for public transport vehicles.
Establishment of sales locations in France and Italy.
Founding of HÜBNER Transportation GmbH and Top Ten GmbH.
2006
Acquisiton of PolymerTechnik Ortrand GmbH.
2007
New process for printing motifs on folding bellows produced on the occasion of the documenta art exhibition.
Acquisition of HEMSCHEIDT Fahrwerktechnik GmbH & Co. KG.
Acquisition of Palotás Mix.
2009
Presentation of the product terrasensa classic ® at the Medica exhibition.
2010
Acquisition of Rutsch & Co GmbH.
Development of a proprietary patented fluid pump.
2011
Establishment of a sales location in England and production facilities in India.
2012
Acquisition of Bellow & Bus (Pty) Ltd.
Acquisition of Heurteaux – manufacture de caoutchouc.
Start of serial production of soap dispensers.
2013
Change of company name to HÜBNER GmbH & Co. KG.
Establishment of production facilities in Malaysia.
Launch of the new articulation system family HNGK 19.5.
2014
Diversification into new technologies (terahertz, photonics and high frequency technologies).
Founding of HF Systems Engineering GmbH & Co. KG.
2015
Establishment of a sales location in Turkey.
Acquisition of Cobolt AB.
2016
Establishment of a sales location in Colombia.
