But the history of ore smelting and iron working in the Krems region begins much much earlier, and evidence exists that it has been practised here since the beginning of modern history.
500 years of ore smelting. As far back as 1525, a copper mill was operated in Wöllersdorf in the Südbahn region, which is around 80 kilometres from Krems. This copper mill can be regarded as the first roots of the company that exists today.
From copper to iron. In 1711 the copper mill was taken over by Franz Schmid from Schmidsfelden and transferred to Wasendorf in Styria , where it was then transformed into a iron mill and a sheet-iron mill. In1854 came the merger with the Hungarian Sheet Metal Union and the Johann Adolf smelting works in Paßhammer into Styria. Shortly thereafter, the foundry was absorbed by the company Rottenmanner Eisenwerke AG.
From sheet-metal production to sheet-metal processing. In 1939, Rottenmanner Eisenwerke AG chose Krems as the location for its thin-sheet rolling mill and surface refinement facility. In 1955, the plant came under the administration of VÖEST, which later developed into voestalpine AG and which was then fully integrated into the company in 1963. Within a matter of just a few years, the restructuring from a sheet-metal production to sheet-metal processing took place.
A principal voestalpine AG location. Krems is today one of the most important locations of the global voestalpine Group and the headquarters of Metal Forming Division, a voestalpine division, which has in excess of 10,000 employees in over 40 countries spread across 4 continents.
The companies of the division connect material expertise in a unique way – the steel is produced just 100 kilometres upstream along the Danube in the voestalpine steel mill in Linz – and processing expertise, which is reflected in the guiding principles of the division: "Leading in metal forming with material expertise".
voestalpine Krems Finaltechnik GmbH is the specialist company at the location for turn-key solutions when it comes to high bay warehouses, system racks and road safety with guard-rail systems. It was founded in 1990 as an independent company and consolidates the expertise in these three business areas. This guarantees customers a maximum level of value. In the high bay warehouse business area, voestalpine Krems Finaltechnik is the global and globally successful partner; in the system rack and road safety business areas, the primary geographical focus is Europe.