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Private company

Pestalozzi AG

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Swiss steel and iron trading company

Pestalozzi AG is a Swiss company active in steel and iron trading and building services, based in Dietikon. The company's origins date back to the 18th century, making it one of Switzerland's oldest family businesses, currently in its ninth generation of family ownership.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1763Founded1
  • HeadquartersDietikon1
  • Websitewww.pestalozzi.com
  • Legal formAktiengesellschaft1
  • LEI506700031767PAS5CE803
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered addressRiedstrasse 1, 8953 Dietikon, Switzerland3
  • Registered withFederal Statistical Office, CHE1059400753

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Pestalozzi AG is a Swiss company active in steel and iron trading and building services, based in Dietikon. The company's origins date back to the 18th century, making it one of Switzerland's oldest family businesses, currently in its ninth generation of family ownership.2

Products and brands

Business activities

Historical products and services

From its beginnings, Pestalozzi focused on commerce. In the 18th century, the company sold iron bars, horseshoes, iron wheel rims, sickles, files, stoves, and iron wire, as well as scrap metal. In the 19th century, industrialization, the construction of railway lines and steam engines, as well as the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, led to a significant increase in turnover and workforce.

The construction boom after World War II led to strong growth until the 1973 oil crisis. After this turning point, the strategy of the 1980s was again focused on growth: markets were expanded through corporate acquisitions, the sales program and service offerings were expanded.

Modern restructuring

The real estate crisis of the 1990s was followed by a consolidation phase, combined with restructuring. This restructuring allowed the eighth generation of owners to reduce dependence on ordinary steel, which was subject to strong competition. The company focused on quality and innovation and reduced its product range, which until then had differed little from those of other iron and steel merchants. The company sold most of the stakes acquired in the 1980s as well as areas with weak market shares. Sectors were redefined according to customers rather than products.

In 1997, Pestalozzi acquired Gabs AG in Tägerwilen, a leader in the sheet metal accessories niche. The same year, transport activities were transferred to Transstahl AG.

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Corporate structure and operations

The company name has changed over the years: Joh. David Wiser (1789), Gebr. Pestalozzi (1891), Pestalozzi & Co. (1911, entry of the Burckhardt family), Pestalozzi + Co AG (1979, joint-stock company instead of general partnership), and Pestalozzi AG (2019). Since 2019, the holding company has been called Pestalozzi Holding AG.

A stock market listing was considered in the 1990s but ultimately rejected. Since the departure of the Burkchardts in 2000, the Pestalozzi family has once again become the sole owner of the company. In accordance with the tradition of limiting ownership to family members active operationally, it was agreed in 2014, during the transition to the ninth generation, that Matthias Pestalozzi would successively compensate his brothers and sisters.

As of 2022, the company serves approximately 8,500 clients throughout Switzerland, employs 400 staff members, achieves annual sales of CHF 235 million, and operates a fleet of 76 vehicles. The company distributes over 120,000 articles in the form of finished and semi-finished products for construction (plumbing, heating, sheet metal work, metal structures, roofing, and facade construction) and metallurgy.

In 2021, the company was active in the areas of technical equipment and building envelope (Gabs AG), steel processing, as well as transport and logistics (Transstahl AG). The company awards the Pestalozzi Prize for the best apprentice diploma in the industry (Pestalozzi Stiftepriis).

From Wikipedia’s article on Pestalozzi AG, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Timeline

  1. 1763Founded Founded1

Sources

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