1851
Bleichhütte [Bleaching hut] near the Sundern estate

Announcement Date: 1. January 1851

The story of the Börkey family business is based on the Börkey and Hückinghaus families. It began in 1851 when the blacksmith, Karl Börkey, in what was known as the “Bleichhütte”, a small workshop close to the Sundern estate near Gevelsberg, started producing hand-forged keys. For the most part, this undoubtedly took place unobserved. But they were remarkable times back then. Verdi composed the opera Rigoletto, the first world exhibition took place in London’s Crystal Palace, and in America, a decade previously, Linus Yale had already invented the prototype of today’s integrated cylinder, a revolution in lock technology which still has an impact today.