A 90 Year Journey to 2025 – Hörmann. For Life.

A family-owned company for four generations, Hörmann was founded by August Hörmann in 1935 when he started the Bielefeld Steel Doors Factory.  August already had roots in the craft of door-making and was known for his passion for technology and keen eye for quality.  His philosophy: “A good reputation must be earned” still resonates with the company today. August’s son, Hermann, became co-owner in 1938.  Within a few years, Hörmann became a regional supplier of modern steel doors.

After the untimely death of August Hörmann in 1944, his son Hermann Hörmann continued his father’s business and relocated its headquarters to Steinhagen, Germany, which is located near Bielefeld.

After the Second World War, Hermann Hörmann put the company on the path to success. While established manufacturers failed to recognize the signs of the times, Hörmann took a chance and purchased the rights to the industrial production of a new type of up-and-over garage door from  American, Glenn Berry. In 1952, the company introduced the first up-and-over garage doors on the market, laying the foundation for Hörmann as it’s known today.

Just five years later in 1957, the 25,000^th  up-and-over garage door was produced. During the period in Germany known as the economic miracle, the innovative up-and-over garage door become a bestseller, which elevated Hörmann to become the country’s leading garage door manufacturer.

Thanks to the great success of the up-and-over garage door, the Hörmann factory in Amshausen (Steinhagen) quickly reached its production capacity. To expand its product portfolio, Hörmann opened two new factories in 1962: Hörmann Genk NV in Belgium and Hörmann KG Freisen, located in the north-eastern part of Saarland, Germany.  Today, the Freisen factory still produces high-quality steel fire-rated doors for international markets.

On January 1, 1972, Hörmann KG Verkaufsgesellschaft was founded as an independent location for providing centralized support to the existing sales activities of the growing company. Hörmann KG Verkaufsgesellschaft in Steinhagen is the current headquarters of the Hörmann Group.

Hörmann’s next trend-setting development after the up-and-over garage door, was space-saving, vertically opening sectional doors. To produce these, a new factory was founded in Brockhagen in 1976, which kicked off the industrial production of sectional doors at Hörmann. The Brockhagen factory is still one of the largest factories within the Hörmann Group today.

Following the launch of up-and-over garage doors and sectional doors, Hörmann continued to steadily expand its product portfolio as it began production of rolling shutters at its Bielefeld factory in 1984. For capacity reasons, beginning in 1994, the production of rolling shutters was moved to a newly established factory in Dissen, which is still in operation to this day.

With the acquisition of Schörghuber Spezialtüren KG in 1988, Hörmann expanded its product mix to include timber specialty doors. Schörghuber, which is still the leading supplier in this sector today, revolutionized the industry in 1962 with the introduction of the first timber fire-rated door.

In 1989, Thomas J. Hörmann become the second majority shareholder of the Hörmann Group, alongside his father Hermann Hörmann. In addition to managing the factories in Freisen and Eckelhausen, Thomas also assumed responsibility for the entire Hörmann group.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hörmann expands its production capacity by opening Hörmann KG Brandis, a new factory located in the new federal state of Saxony. Still today, the Brandis factory produces high-quality steel entrance and functional doors for the national and international markets.

By founding a new factory in Ichtershausen, Thuringia, Hörmann further expanded production capacity for garage doors. This factory specializes in the manufacturing sectional garage doors, and today it is the largest Hörmann factory in Germany.

At the end of 1989, the original Hörmann operator technology company, with its factory in Marienfeld, became a separate company from the Hörmann group companies. Renamed “Marantec”, this factory was Hörmann's exclusive operator supplier for several years. This changed again in 1999 when the first of the company's own operators were produced and delivered two years after the Ichtershausen factory opened.

Hörmann entered the Chinese market  in 1998 with the newly established factory, Hörmann Beijing Door Production Co. Ltd. This Beijing-based factory produces fire-rated, multi-purpose, and internal doors.

In addition, with the acquisition of Seuster KG in Lüdenscheid, Hörmann expanded its range of industrial door systems to include high-quality and innovative high-speed doors. To this day, Seuster remains one of the largest producers of high-speed doors and is worldwide renown as one of the first suppliers of fabric high-speed doors with clear vision sections.

Hörmann established its own production location in the USA and entered the American market in 2001 by establishing Hörmann, Inc. (now Hörmann Group Americas), near Knoxville, Tennessee. Growth continued in 2006 with the purchase of residential and commercial sectional door manufacturer, GADCO, located in Montgomery, Illinois. Since then, Hörmann has continued to expand their presence in the North American residential and commercial sectional door and high-performance door markets with the purchase of three additional high-profile door manufacturers: Flexon, Inc., Northwest Door, and TNR Industrial Doors. Now, these manufacturing facilities are identified by their city designations: Hörmann Montgomery IL, Burgettstown PA, Puyallup WA, and Barrie ON Canada.

In 2020, Hörmann cemented their presence in North America with the construction of a 325,000 sq. ft. North American headquarters located in Sparta, Tennessee. In 2023, Hörmann introduced impact traffic doors to the US market with the HPP polyethylene double-acting door. Then in 2024, dock levelers were added to the product mix.

As of 2025, Hörmann North America operates six manufacturing facilities producing high-performance doors, residential, and commercial sectional doors, double-acting doors, and dock levelers.

Following the acquisition of Dutch company DynaSeal B.V. (now Hörmann Alkmaar B.V.), Hörmann was able to offer loading technology for industrial and logistics buildings in addition to its industrial door solutions.

In 1990 and 1992 respectively, Martin J. and Christoph Hörmann joined the company. In 2006, they became the fourth Hörmann generation to take the helm of the family business, alongside their father Thomas J. Hörmann, as personally liable partners.

Also during that year, Hörmann expanded its product line once again with the acquisition of Tortec Brandschutztor GmbH, the Austrian market leader for sliding fire doors.

Hörmann’s up-and-over garage door has become a bestseller, and about 60 years after introducing the product, Hörmann produced its ten millionth up-and-over garage door in 2010.

Hörmann acquired the majority shares in Shakti Met-Dor (now Shakti Hörmann Ltd), the market leader for steel fire-rated doors in India. This acquisition strengthened Hörmann’s production and sales of doors and gates for the Indian market.

Hörmann acquired the Gütersloh-based company Huga KG, thus expanding its range of doors to include residential internal doors made from timber and glass for private residential construction.

With the acquisition of Alukon KG Konradsreuth, located near Hof, Hörmann entered the market for sun and insect screen systems. With Alukon on board, Hörmann experienced steady growth in this sector and, in 2016, further grew its sun shading division with the acquisition of Schlotterer rollcom (now Alukon KG Haigerloch).

The Hörmann Forum opened in 2015 at the company headquarters in Steinhagen. It covers three floors and offers over 2500 m² of exhibition space. The Forum is not only the world’s largest showroom, but it’s also Hörmann’s central seminar and event center. Equipped with practical seminar and conference rooms featuring the latest technology, the Forum offers an ideal learning environment for employees and clients alike.

Hörmann entered the market for perimeter protection systems in 2016. With the acquisition of the Italian company Pilomat, Hörmann grew its product range to include bollards, road blockers, and tire killers.

Hörmann acquired the Canadian company TNR Industrial Doors Inc., a manufacturer of solid rubber high-speed doors, rolling shutters and special doors, thus expanding its international business activities in the field of industrial doors.

With the acquisition of Hermann Automation GmbH (now Hörmann KG Mengerskirchen), Hörmann further grew its newly established perimeter protection systems business and now also offers parking management systems in the form of barriers and parking facility systems.

In 2020, Hörmann expanded its product portfolio in Europe to include storage space systems and now also offers metal tool sheds and firewood racks. Both products are 100% CO₂-neutral, as Hörmann uses green electricity throughout the production process and offsets the remaining emissions by supporting climate protection projects in cooperation with ClimatePartner.

Hörmann KG Verkaufsgesellschaft celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022 and as the central sales location of the Hörmann Group, now supports and coordinates more than 100 company-owned sales locations in over 40 countries.

It is with deep regret that we bid farewell to our senior partner Thomas J. Hörmann, a family entrepreneur who was characterized by his down-to-earth attitude, his exceptional expertise and his joy in creating. His outstanding personality epitomized human warmth, a great sense of responsibility, entrepreneurial vision and a fine sense of humor. With his exemplary motivation and admirable energy into old age, he led the Hörmann group of companies to its current level of international significance. Thomas J. Hörmann's life's work will remain a role model, an incentive and an obligation for everyone at Hörmann. His sons Martin J. and Christoph Hörmann will continue to run the company in the fourth generation with the highest recognition and gratitude for his work and endeavors.

Today, the Hörmann Group is Europe’s leading supplier of doors. More than 6000 employees work in over 40 specialized factories in Europe, North America and Asia to develop and produce high-quality doors, frames and operators, as well as perimeter protection and storage space systems, for private and commercial use. The headquarters of the globally active Hörmann Group is in the East Westphalian municipality of Steinhagen, near Bielefeld, Germany. This company, which is family-run, recently recorded an annual turnover of more than 1 billion euros.