A young, energetic and universally talented Engineer and a Lubrication Pump - that was all that was required to conceive an ingenious idea.

The still young Eugen Woerner was commissioned by his employer Daimler, to transfer a car from Stuttgart to Paris as a co-driver.

The main task of the co-driver was that of an “oil monkey”. He had to oil the car at every stop of which there were many. He had to do this so often that he started to think about an alternative method of oiling, in order to rid himself of this boring and menial task.

The idea of Central Lubrication was conceived.

After successful co-operation with some large companies, such as Robert Bosch, a personal friend, Eugen Woerner founded his own firm in 1922.

In the Stuttgart suburb of Bad Cannstatt, the Engineer started his work with only two faithful. During his working life he registered not less than 150 patents. Based on the, by him developed, “Lubrication Pump for Multiple Lubrication Points Arranged Circularly” he manufactured the so called “Golden Oiler”. The unit was then assembled in rented rooms in an Inn. The mechanical principle of this pump has survived to this very day.

After an initial upswing of the undertaking, the firm had to move to larger premises in Stuttgart-Feuerbach to be able to cope with the increased demand. Just after the great depression had been overcome, the new production facilities were razed to the ground by Allied bombs. In these very difficult times, Eugen Woerner’s daughter Sigrid joined the firm. Shortly afterwards she was already in charge of Accounting and Human Recourses.

At the age of 70 the founder and pioneer Eugen Woerner passed away on 30th December 1955. The son in law Alfred Kärcher, together with his wife Sigrid, takes over the reigns of the firm. In the wake of an economic upswing after the war, Woerner, by now, had out grown the existing manufacturing facilities.

With the help of the Ministry of Economics a suitable property was found in Wertheim, situated at the confluence of Main and Tauber, after the search for a suitable location in the greater Stuttgart area proved to be unsuccessful. Because of an existing building, Wertheim proved to be most suitable for a move. After very trying and difficult years an encouraging upswing began. New products were added and the customer base grew steadily. By 1963 Woerner had already 80 employees.

In 1970 the young engineer Hans-Otto Dewes joined Woerner who, 6 years later, was promoted to strengthen the already strong Management Team.

Under his dedicated guidance many new inventions in the field of lubrication technology followed. One of these inventions was the Oil-Air-System, which was developed for very fast running bearings in line-bore and milling machine spindles. This system transports exact quantities of oil to the lubrication points in a constant air stream. In 1984, following specific demands by paper machine manufacturers, the KUI type flow control instrument was developed to facilitate the difficult lubrication and cooling of bearings in paper machines.

Further developments for the successful lubrication of large open girth gears on rotary kilns and mills in the cement, coal and the mining industry followed. With the SBD an optimal solution was found. This spray unit controls and monitors the flow of lubricant and air.

Plant II in Hafenstrasse is built. The cramped conditions in the constantly extended company building "Am Eichamt" come to an end with the outsourcing of the large aggregate assembly in the following year.

In 2004, with the transfer of management in to hands of Dr.-Ing. Sven M. Schultheis and the retirement of long serving management Team members Dipl.-Ing. Hans-Otto Dewes and Sigrid Kärcher, another era in the history of WOERNER came to an end.

At present, Eugen WOERNER GmbH & Co.KG has 170 employees who ensure that WOERNER, which is in the market for over 80 years now, will also in future be a world wide recognised manufacturer of Central Lubrication Systems of the highest possible Quality, Standard and Technology.

Sigrid Kärcher retires from the company. She transfers her company shares to her children, the major share holder from now on is Mr. Matthias Kärcher.

In July 2009 the company moves to the new building in Hafenstrasse. Apart from the already existing production and assembly hall, the complete administration is at the new location now, too. On 7.500 m² of most modern industrial architecture WOERNER will meet its challenges to be a reliable partner in the market.

In October 2021, Dr.-Ing. Sven M. Schultheiß hands over the management of the company to Mr. Alexander Kärcher after 17 years. 

From 1922 to today – We celebrate our 100th company anniversary! For our anniversary we create something special: A book of 100 years of company history.

» View our anniversary book as PDF now