WMF

WMF is a German company specialising in cooking, drinking and dining wares.

The firm was formed in 1853 as Straub & Schweizer producing silver plated serving and tableware in Geislingen. They won a Gold Medal at the International Exhibition in London in 1862 and they opened their first retail outlet in Berlin in 1868. By 1871 they employed 60 workers which had grown to around 200 by 1880 producing 960 different items.

They merged with Ritter & Co in 1880 to form a new limited company called Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik. Ritter & Co were already manufacturing electroplated silver in their more modern facilities which the new company were able to exploit.

They perfected a new silver plating technique for cutlery in 1892 which ensured that the silver coating was thicker on the areas most likely to suffer wear and tear. They patented this and ‘Perfect Hard Silver plating’ remains under the exclusive use of WMF today.

The company had grown to 4,000 employees by 1910 and they were printing sales catalogues in 12 languages. They had subsidiaries in London, Warsaw and Vienna opening up export markets.

The company became very interested in design and was influenced by the Art Nouveau style. They modernised and extended their product range and in 1925 they started to develop and sell products specifically aimed at consumers who were interested in art and design. They created a new brand ‘Ikora’ which referred to a metal coating technique that enabled decorative flourishes which looked hand crafted, despite having been mass produced.

The company had to more or less start from scratch after the Second World War having lost all its foreign assets and outlets. They rebuilt their facilities and opened subsidiaries in the USA, Canada, Holland, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

By 1950 they had 3,000 employees and tableware and cutlery accounted for around two thirds of their business with their main customers being shops specialising in gold and silverware.

The 1950s saw a shift in emphasis towards designer household and kitchenware items which were supplied to specialist retail shops. They also developed a range of products specifically for the catering and hotel industry.

By 1960 they had once again become highly successful with their Geislingen factory alone employing 5,800 workers.

They are still trading today and now have a range of small domestic appliances including coffee machines.