Rolf Weber, the company founder, was born in 1920 in the Saxon city of Schöneberg, the son of a tool trader. In 1949 he started his company in Hof, Bavaria, and in 1954 he moved to Schauenstein, only a few kilometers from Hof. Although the occupation laws of the time prohibited the production of rolling bearings in Germany, reviving industries urgently required them. Rolf Weber exploited this situation to build up a wide range of stocks of rolling bearings of every kind, primarily by buying them back from from large factories, mining companies, and steel and chemical industries. Since the Upper Franconian area only had few large industrial plants, Rolf Weber saw a need to acquire customers in large urban areas of Germany and abroad. As a result of the stocks of large and special rolling bearings built up at that time, the company soon had contacts all over the world and this process was enhanced by sending out stock lists. In the course of the years the company continued to expand. Since 1989 his three daughters have been active in the management of the company, continuing their father’s founding philosophy and expanding the company. After the opening of the borders, it was self-understood that Rolf Weber would become active in his old home Saxony. In 1989 a subsidiary was started in Hohenstein-Ernstthal and in 1995 a new distribution center with 2,000 m2 of stock space was opened in Limbach-Oberfrohna near Chemnitz as a central stock location for the east. In April 1997 the company moved into its new administrative building at the home site of Schauenstein. In July of 1998 the central warehouse for the south was opened with stock space of 14,000 m2.
In 1997 the corporate group expanded to Berlin. The company Hohndel-Desch Drives GmbH & Co KG was purchased and three years later the Gerh. Buschmann Trading Company mbH. Both companies were merged on the first of January 2002. This became the Weber Industrial Technology Berlin GmbH & Co KG, the central Warehouse North. The name of Hohndel-Desch has been a symbol of comprehensive know-how and supply of drive components and rolling bearings in Berlin since 1953. The additional acquisition of the well-known company Desch expanded the core competencies of the company to v- and toothed belts, v-belts pulleys and clutches. The Buschmann company has an 80 year record of excellent support and service for customers in Berlin and Brandenburg requiring work protection equipment, tubings, fittings.
In May 1998 the company RSK Witt in Cologne was integrated into the ROLF WEBER GROUP. Since April 2005 it has been working under the name of WEBER Industrial Technology Cologne GmbH & Co KG – Central Warehouse West. RSK Witt GmbH & Co KG had its origins in 1904 when it began as an engineering service and supplier for the brown-coal mines near Cologne and Aachen. In Cologne they are working on extensive concepts for the use of rolling bearings and linear modules as well as for filtration and special hydraulic applications.
Since 1998 there has been a further member of the ROLF WEBER GROUP, the Rolf Weber KG in Hamburg, formerly the rolling bearing department of DESCH Drive Technology.
Thus we are no longer active just in our traditional areas – the global supply of dealers in bottle-neck situations – but also now supply a wide range of systems for industry, craftsmen and trade.
