125 Years of Viega
In 1899, Franz-Anselm Viegener laid the foundation for Viega's success story in Attendorn. A story of close co-operation, shared values, and genuine pioneering. It makes us one of the world market leaders in installation technology to this day.
We look back on what has made us strong. We look ahead to what we want to achieve with innovative strength and clear vision. And to what is at the heart of Viega: our employees. To the people whose ideas have made Viega the company it is today and will be tomorrow.
Celebrate this very special anniversary with us!
Heritage that makes us strong
Viega as a world market leader
125 years ago, the first customers are neighbouring breweries and inns in Attendorn. By the 1930s, Viega is already one of the leading suppliers of drain and overflow valves for washbasins, sinks and bathtubs in Europe. The second half of the 20th century is characterised above all by innovations in pipe connection technology for drinking water and heating. With the first complete drinking water system, Viega becomes more and more of a system provider. Press connection technology for copper is ready for series production. At the same time, the company invests heavily in new locations, markets, and employees. Today, it employs over 5,000 people internationally and is the world market leader for metal press systems.
Viega can look back on a very successful history. We owe this to our innovative strength, our quality standards, but above all to our employees. Our journey is far from over. We want to continue to grow. In Germany, in Europe, in the USA, in Asia and in all other Viega markets worldwide.
Anna Viegener and Walter Viegener, Chair of Shareholder Committee, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
In the '60s, the family sets the course for internationalisation. In 1982, it founds the first subsidiary in France. Today, Viega has 24 of its own sales subsidiaries on four continents.
In 1999, the family business enters the North American market. With the purchase of the Vanguard Group in 2005, a US manufacturer of plastic piping systems, the business continues to grow. Four years later, the construction of a new production centre in McPherson, Kansas, begins. In 2019, Viega finally builds a new US headquarters in Broomfield, Denver, Colorado, including a modern seminar centre. The move to the US East Coast follows in 2023. With its state-of-the-art Experience Centre in New York, Viega creates an international flagship of knowledge transfer.
In 2013, Viega goes to Asia: a new site is built in Wuxi, China, around 100 kilometres north-west of Shanghai. There, the Zhilian and Cleverpress press connection systems are manufactured, which are specially tailored to the Chinese market. Five years later, the move to India: Viega opens a new production centre for pre-wall and drainage technology specifically for the Indian market in Sanand near Ahmedabad, the capital of the state of Gujarat.
Today, the company develops and produces at ten locations worldwide. It exports around 17,000 articles to 75 countries, mainly through its own sales organisations. With its high quality standards and service-orientation, Viega has established its solutions all over the world.
The people are at the heart.
Viega is and remains a family business. That makes us what we are today. From generation to generation, we have preserved and developed the values of our company. This creates a particularly close bond between the founding family and our employees. And an atmosphere of trust and co-operation – the foundations for our continuous growth.
Strong values and a clear attitude characterise our culture at Viega. We stand for loyalty, responsibility, and sustainability in everything we do. We firmly believe that such an attitude pays off: for our success and for our employees.
Anna Viegener, Chair of Shareholder Committee, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Our story began 125 years ago with a vision. But without clever minds, this vision would never have become a reality. Over generations, our employees have contributed to the growth of our company. We owe our success to their commitment and passion.
Walter Viegener, Chair of Shareholder Committee, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Innovation that drives us
Viega has been focusing on innovation for 125 years. Our goal is to always be one step ahead and develop new solutions for maintaining drinking water hygiene, improving energy efficiency, and increasing building comfort. Innovation is and remains the driving force behind our success.
Claus Holst-Gydesen, Chairman of the Management Board, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Innovation is a recurring theme throughout Viega's history. At the end of the 1980s, the company revolutionises the market with the press connection technology and fundamentally changes the way tradesmen worked. Thanks to consistent further development from copper fittings to stainless steel and steel fittings and the development of larger diameters, wall thicknesses and loads, the advantages of this technology can now also be utilised in larger buildings, industrial plants, ships, and municipal supply systems.
With AquaVip Solutions, Viega fundamentally changes the understanding of drinking water installations in buildings in 2020. It takes a holistic view of installations for the first time. This turns drinking water installations into drinking water management systems that no longer only focus on water hygiene, but also on sustainability and high energy efficiency.
Two examples from 125 years of drive. Every innovation serves one purpose: to improve people's lives. Because we see our solutions not just as technical building equipment, but as lifelines for the buildings of tomorrow.
We take responsibility.
We take the values that characterise us as a family business seriously. This also includes taking responsibility. Sustainability is therefore an integral part of our DNA. We understand it in two dimensions: On the one hand, we develop technologies and solutions that help to reduce water and energy consumption in buildings and are also durable thanks to their high quality. And with our commitment to digital construction, we support our specialist partners in planning and constructing sustainable buildings. On the other hand, we have also committed ourselves to clear sustainability goals. We will be climate-neutral by 2035 at the latest. Our sustainability strategy is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
For us, however, responsibility also means helping directly. With the Viega Foundation, we want to provide support where we also leave a corporate footprint. The non-profit corporate foundation supports projects in India to create the basic conditions for a healthy life: clean water, basic sanitation, and hygiene.
With the Viega Foundation, we take responsibility for people for whom the most important foodstuff is a scarce commodity: clean water. With our non-profit corporate foundation, we promote technological solutions that improve the quality of life of local people.
Franz Viegener, part of the fifth generation of the family company