Würth

History

Würth was founded by Adolf Würth (1909–1954), for the purpose of selling screws in 1945 in Künzelsau (hence the company logo, which consists of the family name and a W of two screw heads with cylindrical and round heads). After the death of Adolf Würth, his son Reinhold Würth took over in 1954 at the age of 19 with his mother Alma Würth, making it a two-person company.

Since then, the company has been active in the distribution of fasteners and tools with over 100,000 different products in these lines. Its more than 3.9 million customers include companies from the construction industry, wood and metal crafting, automotive companies, and, increasingly, industrial customers.

Today the Würth Group operates worldwide and employs over 81,000 people, making it one of the largest non-listed companies in Germany. The German newspaper Die Welt listed it as 91 on its list of top 500 companies.

On 1 January 1994, Reinhold Würth withdrew from management and took over as Chairman of the Würth Advisory Board. On 1 March 2006, he passed on this office to his daughter Bettina Würth and became Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group.

On 27 October 2006, after five years of research, the group opened a production plant in Schwäbisch Hall for new types of solar cells using copper, indium, and selenium instead of silicon.

Reinhold Würth advised his approximately 25,000 employees in Germany not to vote for the right-wing extremist AfD in 2024. In a five-page letter, the then 88-year-old noted that not everything was going well in the current Scholz government, but that the AfD wanted to abolish the party state.

Unlike other trading companies, Würth spends much on research and development. It set a record in 2007 with more than 60 patents.

Würth Foundation

The Würth Group supports the Würth Foundation (German: Stiftung Würth), established by Carmen and Reinhold Würth in 1987 to promote art and culture, science and research, education and integration. The organization gives many types of awards, including the Würth Prize for European Literature and the Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany. Since 1993, Würth has awarded the Robert Jacobsen Prize to contemporary visual artists. In addition, the Würth Foundation engages in school and university funding. In 2005, the Künzelsau College of Applied Sciences of the University of Heilbronn was renamed Reinhold Würth University.