TWO HUNDRED
YEARs OF HISTORY.
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1840-1899
1849
1840 1899
1840 1899
1849
1871
1894
1926
1934
1936
1937
1939
1945
1949
1954
1955
1959
1960
1969
1970
1972
1975
1977
1980
1985
1987
1988
1991
1993
1997
1999
2002
2003
2005
2006
2008
2009
2010
2011
2013
2016
2018
2019
2020
2021
The Founder
Kastor Egloff
The Founder
Kastor Egloff
Kastor Egloff was born on 28 November 1820 in Rohrdorf, in the Baden district of Switzerland. The sixth of ten children, Kastor had to start earning a living at a very young age. He worked as a field hand and, by a stroke of luck, he found housing at the ‘Neuhof’ educational institute in Birr, founded by educator and philosopher Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. This was an industrial school with cutting-edge programmes that offered some of the most deprived children, such as Kastor, the opportunity to take classes and learn a trade.
MANUAL SKILL
In 1827, after the death of Pestalozzi, the young Kastor decided to remain in Birr. He raised cattle and, in a small workshop, repaired household appliances and cooking utensils, demonstrating an uncommon level of manual skill.
ZURICH PERIOD
In 1836, with the help of the educator’s widow, Mrs Pestalozzi, he moved to Zurich, where he apprenticed at a mechanics company for four years.
THE JOURNEY
In 1849, Kastor returned to his parents’ home in Rohrdorf, married Barbara Stieger, and opened a workshop. The young couple produced metal ladles and skimmers, working on a treadle lathe. Every two weeks, Kastor travelled to Zurich to sell his products at the market or to hardware shops.
WHERE THE COMPANY WAS BORN
In 1851, Wilhelm Egloff was born. He was the first of the couple’s nine children. Around the same time, a small workshop with a water mill was built on the site where the company is still located to this day. Producing and selling products was hard work, especially in winter, and in 1857, it was only thanks to Barbara that Kastor did not shut up shop and go to work as a supervisor at Oederlin in Baden.
THE CONTINUE GROWING
Continuing to invest in the family business was both a courageous and a far-sighted decision. In just a few years, the workforce increased to ten employees and new items were being produced: ladle lids, candlesticks, forks, and escutcheons for stove pipes made of tin and brass. In the 1860s, the company grew to 20 employees, and Kastor also began to produce oil lamps. The company continued to grow with help from Wilhelm and Julius, Kastor and Barbara’s eldest sons.
THE SUCCESS
They opened a foundry and in 1871, the company reached a turnover of 150,000 Swiss francs. In 1876, Kastor purchased a deep drawing press – the first in Switzerland – and started producing mess tins and other tin-plated household items.
“A YEAR OF SWEEPING CHANGES”
This was a tragic year: whilst working with the new press, Kastor lost a hand and just a few weeks later, suffered a stroke. His son Julius took over the company and, with the help of his brother August, went on to manage it until 1894, when Adolf and Karl Reber acquired a shareholding in the company, investing all their assets. This was a year of sweeping changes that would result in the Egloffs being distanced from the company. When Hermann Weber joined the company with the Reber brothers, Kastor and Julius Egloff became silent partners. Kastor Egloff died in 1905 at the age of 85. At the founder’s death, the company was still many years away from starting to produce coffee machines. The Supra I, its first filter coffee machine, would only be introduced in 1934, a year after the death of Julius Egloff.
NEVERENDING MEMORY
And it was only in 1979, after various evolutions and changes in ownership, that the company’s name changed to Egro AG, composed of the first two letters of the founder’s surname (Egloff) and town he was born in (Rohrdorf). A tribute to Kastor’s entrepreneurial courage, which fully embodies the spirit of the company to this day.
