1992: Drahtseile24 founding
The company Drahtseile24 GmbH has its origin in 1992, when in the disco and stage construction business the requirements around securing the working equipment of people became louder. However, at that time there was no supplier specialized in this type of safety ropes. The founder of Drahtseile24, Ingo Witthuhn, initially made use of wire ropes from the port of Hamburg, but very quickly set higher quality standards. With the purchase of the first pressing tongs and a 100m roll of 4mm strong wire rope, the foundation stone for the company Drahtseile24 was laid in 1992.
2000: Invention of the Kettbiner®
After the first press was used in the basement of a single-family home in 1995, Ingo Witthuhn pursued his passion for wire rope and invented the Kettbiner® in 2000 as a new connecting link for safety ropes. The Kettbiner® was discontinued in 2017 due to rising material prices.
2008: The Saveking® safety rope
In 2008 followed the most successful invention of Drahtseile24 GmbH to date, which has fundamentally changed the market of event technology: The Saveking® safety rope. The Saveking® safety rope is the only type-tested, BG-certified safety rope in Germany and was developed to minimize the impulse of falling work equipment. The Saveking® has a considerable advantage over conventional safety ropes without a damping element, as it causes a controlled reduction of a load impulse of the falling load. This means that smaller rope diameters can be used with the same equipment weights.
2009: Company location Hollenstedt in northern Germany
After the production was initially located in the basement of a single-family house, the move to the first own 300 sqm² industrial hall followed in 2009.
2018: Emergence of a family business
After 26 successful years in the wire rope business, Ingo Witthuhn decided to bring his eldest son Christian Witthuhn into the company in 2018. Together with his younger siblings Sarah and Niklas Witthuhn, who both joined the company a short time later, new sales markets were opened up and the managing director was relieved.
2019: Drahtseile24 Onlineshop
In 2019 followed probably the biggest change in the history of Drahtseile24 GmbH: On September 22, 2019, the Drahtseile24 online store was published. The online store now offers in 6 different categories over 450 different products with over 25,000 variants and special designs for any wire rope applications.
2020: The Savekingline® rope system
After a development and research period of more than 7 years, our horizontal height safety rope system according to DIN EN 795 type C called Savekingline® in variable and defined length was launched in 2020. Similar to the Saveking® safety rope, the Savekingline® also works on the basis of the damping element in the wire rope and serves as fall protection for persons during operations on high-altitude workplaces.
2023: Drahtseile24 share transfer
The foundation stone for the 2nd generation of the Drahtseile24 family was laid in 2023: Ingo Witthuhn divides his company shares to 25% each between himself and his children.
2025: Site expansion in Hollenstedt
Due to the growth of the company to meanwhile more than 30 employees, the site will be enlarged in 2025 to a total size of 5,000sqm and 7 halls in the industrial park in Hollenstedt at the northern edge of Lower Saxony.
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