To grow, you need solid roots.
Two things have made us stand out during our 125-year history:
Courage to develop new ideas and the reliability of our products.
Milestones of success
History is not written overnight. It takes time, experience, expertise, an extraordinary commitment to a shared objective, and of course vision to produce products of the highest quality. Tradition and the strong connection to our roots in Austria are what make this self-imposed claim a reality.
1899 - 1932 - The founding years
In 1899 Anton Weigl founded a machine repair company together with a business partner under the name Schwarz & Weigl. For this purpose they purchased a disused mill in Oberwegbach near Waizenkirchen and installed the necessary machinery. In the beginning, the company repaired steam boilers and threshing machines and sharpened milling rollers. They also manufactured forage chopping machines, simple corn mills and winches for lifting loads.
When the partner left the business due to old age, Anton Weigl continued to run the company alone and gradually expanded it. He built a sawmill to offer contract sawing to local farmers. Even before World War 1, he started to produce fruit mills and manual presses. These were made in various sizes and designs. Mills with granite rollers that crushed the fruit, presses made entirely of wood, even the spindles were first turned from wood, but then made of iron. The production of forage cutters and corn mills was discontinued when these were being mass-produced on a large scale in factories and one-off production was no longer profitable.
1932 - 1969 - Consolidation and re-location
Following the death of the founder in 1932, his son Anton took over the business and focused exclusively on the production of fruit presses and mills, wagon winches and agricultural machinery repairs. The repair of threshing machines was still one of the company's specialities. As the use of machinery in agriculture increased and the tractor took over as the go-to source of power, the company and its facilities were fully booked. The company needed to expand and so in 1961 the first workshops at the current company site were built in Webereistraße, Waizenkirchen. The original workshop was abandoned.
1969 - 2000 - The pioneering spirit (pioneer and visionary)
In 1969 the next generation took over the company. Anton had initially continued with the same range of services and products as his grandfather and father. But soon he started to manufacture and install lifts, and this new field of activity began to replace the production of presses and mills. In the beginning it was mainly small goods lifts for food in restaurants - so-called dumb waiters, but a short time later the company started to manufacture passenger and goods lifts for hotels, factories, residential buildings and so on.
In 1974 the first assembly hall was put into operation that only built lifts. At that time, the company employed 16 people. By the end of the 70's the product range has been extended to include stair lifts and wheelchair lifts. Since then the number of employees and the floor space of the company premises have continued to grow.
Since 2000 - On course for expansion thanks to continuous growth
When Anton Weigl retired in the year 2000, the company already employed 70 people. His daughter Karin Weigl took over the management of the company together with Johann Steinbock, who was a long-time employee. As a result of the company's ongoing growth, Gerhard Humer and Josef Kastner also joined the management team in 2009. The extremely satisfactory level of orders continued to give rise to further expansion of the company. In 2010, another manufacturing hall was opened, which enabled production volumes to be increased. 2011/2012 saw the renovation of the original buildings as well as the addition of a smart exhibition centre displaying the complete product range. In 2014 the company acquired an exhibition centre in Vienna, which opened in autumn 2016 following a complete renovation. In 2015 the branch office opened in Graz, and production was further expanded at the company's headquarters. Thanks to decades of experience and our reputation for quality products, WEIGL has achieved a firm position in the Austrian lift and stairlift market. WEIGL currently employs over 300 people, including more than 45 apprentices, making the firm the largest lift manufacturer in Austria.
And we plan on sticking to this course.
Because our aim is to keep inspiring our customers.