Kjellberg Finsterwalde

Early history

On 27 June 1908, the Swede Oscar Kjellberg received German Imperial patent no. 231733 "Electrode and procedure for electrical soldering" and is therefore recognised as the inventor of the coated welding electrode.

In his capacity as general manager of the company ESAB, in 1921 Kjellberg established Kjellberg Elektroden GmbH in Berlin together with six German and Swedish partners, for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing the patented welding electrodes. For lack of suitable power sources and at Oscar Kjellberg's suggestion, Kjellberg Elektro-Maschinen GmbH was established in Finsterwalde in 1922. In 1923, the company's first welding generator developed and built in Finsterwalde, Ke 200/1450, was presented at the Leipzig spring fair. Later that year, the production of welding electrodes started in Finsterwalde. The oldest product was the rod electrode OK G2/1, which was used for repair welding.

The Kjellberg Foundation

In 1997, the Kjellberg Foundation was established and became the company's sole shareholder. In 1999, a new assembly shop and shipping department at the headquarters in Finsterwalde considerably improved production conditions.

In 2000, the new HiFocus plasma cutting technology, with laser-like precision, was placed on the market. In the following year, the launch of the HiFinox technology for the first time worldwide permitted metallic clean and dross-free cuts on thin sheets of chromium nickel steel. The world's first flow-controlled automatic plasma gas supply in 2003 was an advance creating better quality and reproducibility of plasma cuts.

In 2004, a new record was established by using three FineFocus 800 plasma cutting machines connected in parallel for the dismantling of a disconnected nuclear reactor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. 130 mm thick Stainless steel walls were cut under remote control in water depths of several metres.

In 2008, Kjellberg Finsterwalde Elektroden und Maschinen GmbH was divided into three separate companies: Kjellberg Finsterwalde Plasma und Maschinen GmbH, Kjellberg Finsterwalde Schweißtechnik und Verschleißschutzsysteme GmbH and Kjellberg Finsterwalde Elektroden und Zusatzwerkstoffe GmbH, with Kjellberg Finsterwalde Dienstleistungsgesellschaft mbH fulfilling group-wide functions. The headquarters of Kjellberg Finsterwalde Schweißtechnik und Verschleißschutzsysteme moved to Witten, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Kjellberg Finsterwalde Elektroden und Zusatzwerkstoffe GmbH inaugurated its new manufacturing facility at the Massen location.