1819 – 29 year old Alois Miesbach acquired kilns in Miedling. He was sure that demand for bricks in Vienna will rise during the coming years. He bought plots of land with rich clay reserves on Wienerberg.
1829 – 18 year old Heinrich Drasche, nephew of Alois Miesbach also started working for the company.
1845 – Wienerberger’s product range now included water-supply and drainage pipes. The company now had 37 kilns and was producing 50 million bricks a year, making them the biggest brick producer in Europe with an annual revenue equivalent to 11 million pounds.
1846 – Miesbach leased the Wiener Neustädter Canal, his own waterway to transport finished bricks and importantly coal needed for production.
1850s – Wienerberger expanded into ceramic art and establishes a terracotta factory in Inzersdorf.
1857 – Alois Miesbach unfortunately died, Heinrich Drasche took over as owner of Wienerberger he is also known as the “brick baron“.
1860 – Drasche bought the patent for the continous kiln, invented by Friedrich Hoffman, making continous brick production possible for the first time.
1867 – Emperor Franz Josef took down Vienna’s fortress like walls so the city can expand. Drasche hired more and more brick workers and introduced a piecework scheme to keep up with brick demand.
1869 – Wienerberger was listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and Heinrich Drasche sold his brickworks to a consortium of banks.
1882 – Brick consumption peaked with 330 million units used that year, most of them manufactured by Wienerberger. Drasche established Wienerberger headquarters in the grand “Heinrichshof“, in central Vienna.
UK History
2001 – Wienerberger enters UK market trading as Terca UK through the acquisition of Opitroc brick division in Northern Europe.
2004 – Wienerberger acquires Thebrickbusiness, with nine UK plants. Thebrickbusiness was founded in 2002 through the merger of Ambion Brick and also Chelwood Brick
2005 – Wienerberger enters the UK roof tile market.
2007 – Wienerberger acquires Baggeridge Brick, strengthening their prescence in the UK market with five production sites and also extensive raw material reserves.
2008 – Wienerberger invests in roof tile manufacturing and also buys of majority stake in Sandtoft UK. It is the largest independent roof tile producer in the UK. It has a current and growing brand in clay, concrete as well as slate roofing. There are four roof tile plants in North England.
2008 – Wienerberger launches the important Porotherm clay block walling system in the UK.
2014 – Wienerberger also acquires the Keymer brand of premium handmade clay roof tiles. Keymer is one of the oldest roofing manufacturers in the world, with a great heritage dating back to 1588.
2019 – Wienerberger buys BPD Holdings Ltd. This also enhances the company’s roof offering and deliver specialist building products.
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