Chronicle
: 75 Years of Experience in Elevator Construction and Material Handling Technology
A Brief History of Our Company
Our History in Detail
The Wilhelm Schönau company was founded in 1949 as a one-man operation at Fischers Allee 69 in Hamburg-Altona. Its business purpose is the manufacture of conveyor belts.
In 1959, the company moved to a new, larger production facility in Hamburg-Eidelstedt. The founder’s son, Manfred Schönau, completed his studies and joined the company as a mechanical engineer. The number of employees continued to grow steadily.
After just two years, the existing capacity was no longer sufficient, so an adjacent plot of land was purchased. A new production facility with administrative offices was built immediately. Production increasingly shifted toward elevator manufacturing. In particular, roll-container elevators for grocery chains began to play an ever-greater role in the company.
Following the death of the company’s founder in 1968, Manfred Schönau took over as head of the company. The company began mass-producing the simplified freight elevator. In the years that followed, more than 3,000 of these elevators were manufactured and sold throughout Europe. The material handling technology was further expanded.
In 1987, the company Wilhelm Schönau was reorganized as SCHÖNAU Maschinenfabrik GmbH. Dipl.Ing. Manfred Schönau is the sole shareholder and managing director. The safety enclosures for Japanese automatic placement machines continued to evolve and soon became a separate branch of production.
In 1990, the company’s facility was expanded to include additional production space and a modern paint shop. The number of employees exceeded 40. Following a major order from the Overseas Center at the Port of Hamburg, a complex conveyor and order-picking system was built for a well-known distributor. This was an interesting challenge for our project engineers.
In the late 1990s, his son Martin Schönau —after successfully completing his engineering degree —joined the company as the third generation of the family to do so and was appointed deputy managing director shortly thereafter.
In 1999, the Schönau company celebrated its 50th anniversary.
In 2004, Martin Schönau acquired half of the company’s shares and became a co-owner. This marked the gradual transition to a new generation of leadership at the company. Nothing changed for customers, suppliers, or employees. Continuity is and remains our greatest strength.
In the summer of 2007, the senior partner passed away unexpectedly. It was a painful and bitter loss for the company. Manfred Schönau had been with the company for nearly 50 years and was a Hanseatic businessman through and through. With his passing, the company lost a truly special individual. His son, Martin Schönau, took over sole management of the company. Revenue and the company’s size continued to grow steadily. Elevator manufacturing once again became a mainstay of the company.
In 2007, Schönau delivered the“southernmost elevator in the world” to a research station in Antarctica. The transition to a modern 3D design system (AutoCAD Inventor) is taking place step by step. To separate the increasing number of shipments from production, the company moved into an additional large shipping warehouse in the immediate vicinity in 2009. This step ensures maximum flexibility in shipping and subsequent installation.
In the summer of 2013, SCHÖNAU will begin operating its own laser and sheet metal processing center in a newly constructed production facility. This will enable the company to carry out production independently and with greater flexibility.
Schönau weathered the economic and financial crisis of 2009–2010 without layoffs or furloughs, thanks to our long-standing loyal customers, the good value our products offer, and the flexibility and motivation of our employees.
Since 2015, SCHÖNAU has been regularly exhibiting its product portfolio at trade shows such as LogiMAT in Stuttgart, showcasing its accumulated expertise to a wide audience.
The manufacturing and storage capacitiesare no longer sufficient. In 2018, a new 2,500-square-meter property with an existing production hall and office wing was purchased in nearby Ellerbek, just outside Hamburg. Sheet metal fabrication —featuring state-of-the-art laser cutting and bending technology—as well as the machining department, which manufactures support rollers, and the warehouse will be relocated here.
To make our company more recognizable in the market, we will be changing our name from SCHÖNAU Maschinenfabrik GmbH to SCHÖNAU Förderanlagen und Aufzüge GmbH effective August 2022, with no change in ownership.
In the summer of 2023, Mr. Schönau’s partner, Ms. Anja Mader, will join the management team as an authorized signatory.
