History

Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH has a history going back more than 100 years. The company was founded in 1898 as a continuation of the Erzgebirge tradition of metals processing. The craft business developed into a market-leading company that quickly became known beyond the regional borders. The company started the development of cutting and forming tools for the automotive industry, so the company is rightly referred to as the “cradle of large-scale toolmaking” in Germany. Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH has a history going back more than 100 years. The company was founded in 1898 as a continuation of the Erzgebirge tradition of metals processing. The craft business developed into a market-leading company that quickly became known beyond the regional borders. The company started the development of cutting and forming tools for the automotive industry, so the company is rightly referred to as the “cradle of large-scale toolmaking” in Germany.

In 1938, the production of the tools for the first VW Beetle developed by Prof. Dr Ferdinand Porsche began at the Schwarzenberg plant, what was then ESEM (Erzgebirgische Schnittwerkzeug- und Maschinenfabrik Schwarzenberg). For the first time in the German automotive industry, the roof, rear window and cowl were drawn from one piece.

After World War II, the company – restructured as VEB Formenbau Schwarzenberg – gained an excellent reputation worldwide and played a decisive role in the development of toolmaking for car bodies in the former GDR. On 1 January 1993, the former Formenbau GmbH Schwarzenberg became KUKA Werkzeugbau Schwarzenberg GmbH, and from 2007 onwards operated under the name KUKA Systems GmbH Toolmaking Division.

On August 3, 2015, the tool shop was taken over as a 100% subsidiary of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG and has since been trading as Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH in Schwarzenberg with the subsidiary Porsche Werkzeugbau s.r.o. in Dubnica (Slovakia). Since 2018, the business field in Slovakia has been expanded to include plant construction, since 2020 in our own production facility in Horna Streda (Slovakia). In February 2022, the Porsche SmartBatteryShop s.r.o. another subsidiary was founded, which will in future manufacture battery modules for Porsche electric vehicles at the Horna Streda site.