1924

A wooden desk with various folders and documents, a typewriter, an old telephone, a picture frame and individual old padlocks © ABUS

An open folder with a cover page showing a padlock and a pair of keys, with the heading "ABUS padlocks" © ABUS

THE FOUNDING YEAR 1924

At the age of 63, August Bremicker and some of his sons set up their own business: ABUS was founded in 1924 – back then under the name August Bremicker und Söhne. Here you can see one of the first catalogue versions from 1924 with the first product, "The Iron Rock", on the cover.

How it all began

August Bremicker and his older sons, who were all employed by the lock manufacturer August Schroeder, harboured the desire to set up their own business even before the First World War. But the war put an end to these plans for the time being.

Of the six sons who were drafted in the First World War, two did not return. It was only after 1918 that the Bremicker family was able to slowly resume their plans. It took a few more years before the idea of a small family business could become a reality. In 1924, the time had come: ABUS was founded.

August Bremicker and his second wife Emma, sitting outside on two chairs next to each other and looking head-on into the camera © ABUS

Division of labour right from the start

Emma, August Bremicker's second wife, actively supported her husband and sons during the founding of the company and in the first years of business, with her tireless commitment, she made a significant contribution to the successful development of the company.

She not only did a lot of commercial work, but also travelled to the Ruhr region carrying a sample case to collect customer orders. Travel expenses were paid only for the ticket. Sandwiches from home were Emma Bremicker's food for the journey.

August Bremicker and his second wife Emma, sitting on a bench outside and looking to their left, into the camera © ABUS

Secure and high quality

It should make life a little safer and be made of high-quality material.

This is how company founder and locksmith August Bremicker imagined his first self-developed product. He sold a plot of land in order to erect a small building with a working area of 50 to 60 square metres and to buy some machines and materials. Then, with the support of his sons, he began to design and manufacture his first padlock based on his many years of knowledge.

A drawing of a detached, two-storey building with many windows and a few bushes around it with the inscription "Fabrik Bremicker Volmarstein 1924" © ABUS

Robust lock made of sheet metal and steel

The result was impressive: a robust lock made of sheet metal and steel – manufactured with a great deal of courage and craftsmanship, as resources were scarce at the time.

With an eye on potential international sales even then, the Bremickers gave lock its characteristic name, "The Iron Rock".

Three padlocks of the "Iron Rock" model in three different sizes, arranged according to size. Only the centre lock is in focus © ABUS

An old, square padlock with a bronze-coloured lock body, silver-coloured shackle and rivets and a horizontal keyhole © ABUS

An old, semi-circular padlock with a black lock body with white lettering, a silver-coloured shackle and rivets and a vertical keyhole © ABUS

An old, semi-circular padlock with a black lock body and shackle and a vertical keyhole © ABUS

An old, square padlock with a partly blue and partly light bronze-coloured lock body, silver-coloured shackle and rivets and a horizontal keyhole © ABUS

ABUS "Made in Germany”

The ABUS Group is committed to precision and quality "Made in Germany" – this is not just a label for us, but an obligation to which we have remained true for a century. We'll show you what's behind this: find out how we consistently pursue our quality standards despite growing challenges, how we communicate our standards to the world and what role the expertise and dedication of our employees plays.

A collection of 27 different old padlocks lying in three rows on a wooden base © ABUS

To the next milestone

1931

A lady in a hat stands behind a ladies' bicycle and looks directly into the camera. Her surroundings are blurred © shutterstock - Everett Collection

A black and yellow poster showing a bicycle tyre cut-out with an ABUS frame lock, with the inscription "ABUS frame lock attractive simple installation reliable" © ABUS

FREEDOM WELL-SECURED

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, the bicycle experienced a revival: only a privileged few could afford the previously popular cars. This made bicycles all the more important. ABUS recognised the growing importance of the two-wheeler market early on and began manufacturing bike locks.

ABUS – Innovation, quality, trust

Thanks to their high quality, ABUS products became very popular after just a few years. This not only enabled ABUS to acquire a more spacious factory building in Volmarstein, but also to successively expand its product range.

Finally, in 1931, the company introduced a handy and solid bike lock to the market: the chain lock no. 1000. This marked the beginning of a successful era in the world of bike security that continues to this day.

A drawing of the ABUS chain lock No. 1000 with the inscription "No. 1000 1/3 natürliche Größe 1/3 of actual Size 1/3 de grandeur naturelle 1/3 tamano natural" © ABUS

ABUS MASTERPIECE: THE high-shackle lock

Exactly 40 years after the first bike lock, ABUS presented its flagship product, which is still recognised worldwide today: the high-shackle bike lock or U-lock. It has won multiple awards and can now also be opened via app and Bluetooth connection, revolutionising the bike market.

A laminated padlock with a black protective frame and a high shackle in which the key is inserted © ABUS

Advertisements over the years

A black and red poster depicting a high-shackle lock and a cable lock with keys, with the inscription "ABUS bike-motorbike locks" © ABUS

A dark-coloured poster showing three different U-locks with the inscription "ABUS test winner – one step ahead again! Stiftung Warentest 3/96: ABUS: 3x "very good" 1x "good"" © ABUS

A black poster with a circle in the centre showing a woman with a bicycle and a U-lock, a cable lock and two lock bags at the bottom. The inscription reads "ABUS COLOR – Security... Safety... Colour... Fun" © ABUS

Five drawings of different padlocks, chain locks and frame locks, each with a description of the lock © ABUS

To the next milestone

1949

An unrecognisable surface on which various blurred padlocks lie, in the centre of which is a black Diskus lock in focus © ABUS

THE FIRST OF MANY

The circular shape made the Diskus lock stand out from the crowd. However, this design was no coincidence, but a well thought-out piece of engineering.

Form follows function

The round shackle that gives the Diskus lock its characteristic profile is not just a gimmick. This is because the curved shape, which is beautifully integrated into the rest of the lock body, offers much less of an attack surface for attempts to break open the lock.

In addition, the lock body consists of two welded casings which, with their corrosion protection, make the Diskus an all-rounder for every use case.

A blue poster showing an ABUS Diskus lock and its key, with the inscription "The new ABUS – no attack surface!" © ABUS

The original for 75 years

The Diskus lock was developed by Gustav Bremicker on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the company. Inspired by the Olympic sports equipment, the "Diskus" thus became the first registered brand name in ABUS history. For the next 75 years, all Diskus locks were manufactured by hand at the headquarters in Hegestraße in Wetter. A genuine classic!

A production site where 7 employees manufacture the ABUS Diskus locks by hand and place them behind them © ABUS

An ABUS employee who has positioned herself in the left part of the picture, to the side of the camera, between the high rack shelves of production, with its materials © ABUS

"The Diskus is simply ABUS quality"

Zaneta, ABUS employee / production location

A proven system

Even today, the life of every Diskus lock begins in the Volmarstein factory and passes through the hands of our skilled workers.

Find out more about the Diskus

ABUS Diskus® padlock - the classic made in Germany

To the next milestone

1957

A section of a production hall showing some of the machines on the left and three men talking on the right © ABUS

The coat of arms of the municipality of Rehe in the Westerwald © ABUS

THE FIRST PRODUCTION HALL

In just a few years, a modern production site grew up in the middle of the rural Westerwald. Many of the new employees came from the neighbouring villages and towns to work at ABUS.

Made in Rehe

At the time of the German economic miracle, ABUS also endeavoured to further develop its manufacturing technology. The aim was to expand the product range and diversify the company. With limited space in Wetter/Ruhr, the search for a second production site was initiated. The Westerwald region quickly caught the eye, especially the small community of Rehe. In 1957, company pioneer Willi Bremicker took the plunge and moved with his family to the future site to personally manage the development of the production plant. The picture shows padlock no. 333 – it is the oldest lock model from the 1930s, which was manufactured at the Rehe factory from 1957.

Various padlocks, with silver padlock no. 333 in the centre © ABUS

Boss at eye level

For the first six years, Willi lived directly in the factory building; his office was also his living room. And he was also a very down-to-earth, practically-oriented boss; more likely to be seen in a work coat than a tie.

Whenever he could, he gave employees who did not have their own driving licence a lift in his car. When the factory opened, 36 employees worked in Rehe. The factory combined traditional German craftsmanship with the modern assembly line principle.

Making its own tools was an important pillar of the site right from the start, as was training young skilled workers.

Willi Bremicker in work clothes, photographed from the side at a workbench, at work © ABUS

To the next milestone

1979

Friedrich-Wilhelm Bremicker, his wife Bärbel Bremicker and Werner Fischer with some international business partners © ABUS

A poster showing the outline of a padlock and many different country flags in a circle next to it, with the inscription "ABUS Worldwide" © ABUS

INTERNATIONAL MINDSET

ABUS focused on international contacts early on and has always cultivated long-term partnerships, thus laying the foundation for the global orientation of the company group.

All over the world

Even though ABUS has always been firmly committed to Germany and its headquarters in Volmarstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, the company was already active internationally in its early days.

As early as the 1930s, Asia was the largest non-European export market for ABUS products. In 1969, Friedrich-Wilhelm Bremicker and Werner Fischer established contacts with local manufacturers in Hong Kong on a sales trip through Asia.

One of the Hong Kong companies developed into such a reliable partner that its export manager Nelson To became the first manager of the newly founded subsidiary "ABUS Hong Kong Ltd." ten years later.

Friedrich-Wilhelm Bremicker, Werner Fischer, Nelson To and other local manufacturers on a sales trip to Asia © ABUS

Developing new markets

When China opened up to private investors in 1987, production moved to neighbouring Shenzhen, where high-quality padlocks of the highest international security class are still manufactured today.

Instead of relocating production to low-wage sectors over the next few decades, ABUS deliberately placed its faith in skilled workers who had been employed for many years.

The aim behind the development of these new locations was never to relocate production from Germany to China; instead, ABUS Hong Kong developed its own products from the outset – for example, aluminium locks, which opened up completely new markets for the company group.

Werner Fischer and Christian Bremicker with a Chinese business partner © ABUS

To the next milestone

1981

A product test standardised by ABUS at the production site © ABUS

INTRODUCTION OF THE GRANIT™ SERIES

For the introduction of the famous GRANIT series, it was necessary to carry out standardised tests at the production site. This was the only way to ensure that the GRANIT fulfils the high requirements of the insurance companies.

Stringent testing

To ensure that every lock can be fully trusted, it is important to carry out standardised tests on the product.

In order to make these tests as universally valid as possible, ABUS established its own test laboratory in 1981 in accordance with the strict requirements of the international testing institutes.

The reasoning behind this was that the product should not have to be sent halfway around the world to be checked against numerous applicable standards – instead, ABUS decided to organise the production and testing procedures in such a way that the locks immediately met the highest possible standards.

One of the machines from the ABUS test laboratory © ABUS

Reliable test procedures

This resulted in development of a host of test tools at the Rehe site, allowing the range to be put through its paces on site thanks to mechanical precision and reproducibility. As more and more locks passed through the test procedures, the latter became more reliable, more representative and better.

The so-called "brutal methods", such as forcibly breaking the shackle with bolt cutters, were checked here. "Intelligent methods", such as non-forcible opening with the help of a lock pick, were then tested by human hands.

A look at the salt spray chamber

"Made in Germany" stands for German technologies and the highest quality standards worldwide. Based on this definition, ABUS delivers maximum product quality through optimum production quality. Among other things, this means that we put our products through their paces using various test procedures. For example, with the corrosion test in the salt spray chamber. We will show you how this process can extend the service life of some locks to more than a quarter of a century.

To the next milestone

2001

A selection of video surveillance recorders © ABUS

An image of a video camera in a blue circle © ABUS

FROM VIDEO SURVEILLANCE RECORDERS TO WIRELESS ALARM SYSTEMS

ABUS Security Center in Affing, Bavaria, has focused on the security needs of small and medium-sized companies and private users since 1999. The fusion of mechanical and electronic systems with alarm, video and access control technology takes centre stage here.

Combination of mechanical and electronic systems

For an all-encompassing security concept, electronic systems are also needed alongside mechanical solutions such as locks and bolts.

ABUS took its first steps in this direction back in the 1970s, for example. with the alarm chain that signalled attempted break-ins with an acoustic signal.

However, with the takeover of the ABUS Security Center in Affing, Bavaria, a number of experts were brought on board who, with their expertise in the field of electrical engineering, expanded the product range to include complex alarm and video systems. This completed the integration of mechanical and electronic protection.

An electronic ABUS alarm system that transmits radio waves while a burglar is trying to gain access © ABUS

Security in transition

Since then, the ABUS Security Center's product range has also multiplied. Whether hazard alarms, access control systems or smart home devices, security has never been so efficient.

The Affing site stands like no other for the interplay of modern technology and traditional quality.

A door cylinder with access control chip © ABUS

To the next milestone

2016

A machine from ABUS helmet production © ABUS

Three ABUS employees carrying out precision work on an ABUS helmet © ABUS

NEXT LEVEL - ABUS HELMET PRODUCTION SITE NEAR VENICE

ABUS has been successfully selling bike helmets for amateur athletes and everyday use since 1994. An important milestone around 20 years later was the company's entry into the world of premium bike helmets: from then on, ABUS co-operated with the Italian helmet manufacturer Maxi Studio S.R.L.

Precision and high performance

From the very beginning, ABUS has been committed to protecting people and their everyday lives. It was therefore only a matter of time before the company group would also offer performance helmets for professionals and demanding amateur athletes. In 2016, the time had come: the family-run helmet manufacturer Maxi Studio S.R.L. in Vanza Nuovo near Venice, specialising in the development and production of high-quality bike helmets and their components, was won as a cooperation partner. A year later, ABUS sponsored the UCI WorldTour team "Movistar Team" with the newly developed GameChanger aero helmet. Soon professional athletes such as Annemiek van Vleuten and Alejandro Valverde were riding to podium finishes with the brand new ABUS helmets from Italy. In order to strengthen its expertise in the premium bike helmet sector and ensure the continued existence of the Maxi Studio production centre, ABUS took over the Italian family business completely in 2021.

A cyclist with an ABUS helmet in the Movistar design colour and matching clothing on a bike © ABUS

With man and machine

In the Italian production facility, a team of experienced skilled workers and engineers work with innovative EPS tools and robots specialising in the cutting and thermoforming of PC sheets.

Extremely precise craftsmanship and the latest technologies are an absolute must.

Top athletes also make a significant contribution to the development process: they test the helmets, give feedback and contribute their experience.