Discover Germany | Special Theme | Construction, Building & Modernized Living
Ulrike and Jens-Christian Haake (with co-worker and engineer Martin Och).
A passion for innovation TIGER slide door systems stand for quality made in Germany. TEXT: CORNELIA BRELOWSKI I PHOTOS: TIGER
Sliding doors have recently made quite a revival for modern living design. A German family business with a passion for innovation for four generations combines know-how with tradition in a way that has long gained international recognition. Ever evolving and with an eye on the latest in tech and design innovations, the company is not only well established but also a trendsetter, continuously setting new quality and comfort standards in their field of expertise for more than a hundred years. “What makes us special is the combination of longstanding tradition with the innovative power of a modern development en70 | Issue 50 | May 2017
terprise,” says manager Ulrike Haake who represents the fourth Francksen generation. It all began with a little hardware store in Bremen back at the turn of the century, when the two business partners Hermann Francksen and Partner Hermann Kröger decided to found the Kröger & Francksentrading company. In 1908, the first patented slide door fittings were on the market. Renamed Hermann Francksen Baubeschläge in 1915, the company eventually began with the inhouse production of fittings under the brand name ‘Fortuna’. In 1928, the quickly growing company resettled in a different part of town where
it remains until today. A visit to the 1929 Leipzig sample fair followed. In 1936, Hermann Francksen retired, passing on the management to his daughter Erna and her husband, the chemist Dr. Hugo Schramm. With the prospering ‘Wirtschaftswunder’ years of the post-war period, a newly invented, continuous or ‘endless’ sliding door system was soon patented by Francksen under the brand name TIGER. During the ‘60s, another new invention, the ceiling-fixed sliding system for hospitals became another bestseller for the firm. Yet a new chapter began in 1964, with the takeover of the third generation, namely engineer Hartmut Schramm. A systematic modernisation of the production process coincided with new inventions for slide