The days were long. More than sixty years ago, Aloys F. Dornbracht, who was 57 years old at the time and his son Helmut, were working until five o’clock in the afternoon for other firms, so that they could then use their wages to set up their own business in an old shack in Iserlohn. Evening after evening, they stood at the workbench, filing and polishing the first Dornbracht patent – a totally new fitting with an extending spout Today, it is still that entrepreneurial spirit to take risks and welcome change, that determines the success of this family company. With the first fittings in his suitcase, Aloys F. Dornbracht took the train to the merchants in Cologne, literally selling from door to door.

A few years later, the firm was producing 40,000 pieces a month. Now Helmut Dornbracht’s sons, Andreas and Matthias, are at the helm of this medium-sized company, that in six decades has
become the global market leader in premium fitting production and has exerted considerable influence over the cultural importance of design, architecture and technology in the bathroom.