History – Tradition for Generations

Berger-Lacke looks back on a long tradition and almost a century of experience, innovation and technical progress. As a key component of the Berger Group, Berger-Lacke today consists of three successful corporate lines.

The basis and the first beginnings go back to Philipp Berger, who in 1926 founded a paint trade company with later production in the German chemical town of Ludwigshafen am Rhein and worked until the early 1960s. Since the beginning of the 1950s, the specialization in high-quality industrial coatings and since 1960 also on parquet finishes was established. The relocation of the company from Ludwigshafen to Grünstadt enlarged in 1980 capacities – with reserves for the further successful expansion of the company. 24,000 m² of terrain and large buildings enabled the systematic modernization and expansion of the production facilities in the following decades.

With the takeover of the wood floor finishing specialist Georg Seidle GmbH, Freiberg, founded in 1945, and the merger of the product ranges in 1988 to the brand „Berger-Seidle“, the development to one of the leading manufacturers of parquet flooring finishes in Europe and worldwide was initiated. Ambitious development activities and worldwide marketing led to a great variety of environmentally friendly finishes and oil systems and smart problem-solving products (www.berger-seidle.de). As a logical step in global development, the subsidiary “Berger-Seidle America L.P.” was founded in 1997 in Duluth, Georgia, USA.

The idea of supplying all chemical-technical products for parquet from a single source was realized in 2009 by adding parquet adhesives to the product portfolio. With the acquisition of the traditional adhesive manufacturer Ramge-Chemie GmbH, Dudenhofen, founded 1928, and its complete integration with Berger-Seidle in Grünstadt in 2013, the sister company Berger-Seidle rounds off its comprehensive product range.

The seminar and technical center, which was built in 2012, offers large, ideal space for the implementation of technically demanding seminars and perfects the overall range of today’s Berger Group and especially the Berger-Lacke GmbH in Grünstadt.

In 2017, the coating manufacturer Zobel-Chemie from Worms am Rhein was taken over, which today is also part of the Berger Group as a sister company to Berger-Lacke. Under the [Z] Zobel brand, Berger-Zobel is a premium supplier of the most modern and environmentally friendly window, facade and door coatings (www.zobel-coatings.de).

Thus, today all sister companies and brands are in each segment technically leading and very successful worldwide in many countries.

The investment in the new „TechnologyCenter IndustrialCoatings“ in the year 2019 was another historical step – underlining the market position, quality focus and customer service of Berger-Lacke. This new technology center sets new standards. It represents a unique level of coating testing technology in one building, by offering testing lines for all climate zones, all coating processes and drying situations. Products can be tested under all global conditions to match the coatings to individual needs – no matter where on the globe the customer coats his products. This center is as well used for performance testing and industrial trainings.

Berger-Lacke and the Berger Group are still independent, medium-sized and family-owned companies, and thus one of the last in the industry in this tradition.

2023

With Thomas M. Adam, the 3nd generation is leaving the company

2023

Major investments in a strongly extended electricity infrastructure for on-site emergency power units, on-site e-mobility and on-site solar technology