1908 – or how it all began
The foundation of success of the maxit Group was laid in 1908. Johann Bergmann founded the company Bergmann Kalk and built a lime kiln for the manufacture of heavy concrete blocks, window sills and cement tiles. Year on the year the company grew and step by step expanded its production plants. In 1973 a modern, gas-operated, multi-chamber shaft kiln was erected at the Azendorf site.
Still today the company covers a large share of the raw material demand of the maxit Group.
1978 – the foundation of Franken Maxit
The prerequisites for the production of dry mortar could not have been better. Whilst Bergmann Kalk extracted Jurassic lime in Azendorf and refined it to limestone sand and lime hydrate, Franken Maxit further processed these raw materials to dry finishing mortar and distributed this in transport silos. The signs for success for the distribution in transport silos with practice-oriented application technology or as bagged goods for the building materials trade were there from the outset.
1984 – lime-cement plaster
In 1984 both lime-cement and lime-gypsum machine-applied plaster were manufactured at the Azendorf site. The demand for the raw material gypsum was at that time covered by the gypsum factory in the Thurinigan Krölpa across the then border to the DDR. The gypsum factory in Krölpa would gain essential significance over the coming years.
1989/90 – foundation of maxit Baustoffwerke
The political developments in Germany open up new possibilities, even in the construction industry. maxit paves the way for a successful future and in 1990 takes over the gypsum factory in Krölpa with all of its staff in trust and founds the subsidiary maxit Baustoffwerke GmbH. This presents a strategically significant decision for the raw material base within the company: alongside lime both gypsum and anhydrite are available for further processing. This way it was possible to create ideal conditions for the market development into the new Federal States.
In the same year at the Azendorf site another compounding factory is put into operation. With this, capacity rose to approx. 100,000 tonnes of material per year.
1996 – the dry mortar factory in Niederwinkling is built
At the existing locations of the maxit Group, the company has likewise grown: At the maxit headquarters in the Upper Franconian Azendorf, a second lime kiln is erected. At the Krölpa site, the existing dry mortar factory for gypsum plaster and anhydrite flowing screed is extended with a grinding plant for the further processing of anhydrite.
1998/99 – Anniversary: 90 years Bergmann-Kalk, 20 years Franken Maxit
Great events shape our future. 1998 is the year of our anniversary. 90 years of Bergmann Kalk and 20 years of Franken Maxit clearly meant it was time to celebrate. During these years, the maxit insulation and façade technology received its own management with a warehouse in Kahla. The Niederwinkling site is further enhanced with the construction of a pearlite plant.
2000/01 – the factories in Dresden and Plattling are taken over
At the turn of the millennium, maxit took over both of the dry mortar factories in the Saxon Dresden and in the Bavarian Plattling from Heidelberg Cement. For the Dresden site this means a step to increasing the impact in Saxony and Thuringia in an already existing sales territory of the maxit Baustoffwerke GmbH. The factory in Dresden is thereby the fourth maxit site in the Federal States of Saxony and Thuringia.
2003 – foundation of the Nuremberg branch
Niederwinkling experiences another sustainable reinforcement as a location of the maxit Group. The opening of a newly erected training centre and a year thereafter the expansion with a plant for the manufacture of bagged goods.
With the foundation of a new branch in Nuremberg, maxit can supply the Nuremberg metropolitan region quickly, without complication in its 25th year of existence.
In the same year, maxit makes strategic switches in Czech Republic. The Eger site is relocated to an already existing warehouse in Beroun near Prague.
2008 – 30 years Franken Maxit
30 years after the founding of Franken Maxit, maxit is able to proudly look back on what they have achieved. The successful establishment of numerous locations and continual growth in the number of employees are confirmation for maxit of the implemented course and simultaneously the commitment for a sustainable design of the future of the company.
Franken Maxit will gain a new partner this year. The Saint Gobain Group will become partners of Franken Maxit and in doing so will relieve Heidelberger Cement and the Mathis lime factory.
2016 – a research and development centre is erected
With the presentation of the revolutionary new “maxit mörtelpad”, a dry pad of mortar, which is first moistened on the masonry, maxit provided the international leading trade fair for the building industry and architecture with furore and high press presence.
At the Azendorf location, the signs meanwhile remain on expansion. Maxit presses ahead with its innovative company focus for the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a new research and development centre. The new-build of a state-of-the-art PFR lime kiln, which is over 60 metres high through the Bergmann Kalk company also ensures the highest quality raw materials for innovative building materials within the maxit Group in future.
2018 – maxit ecosphere: The bang in the insulation market
At maxit, innovation has been a top priority for years – not only in our corporate philosophy, but also in our day-to-day activities. At the world's leading trade fair BAU 2019 in Munich, the Franconian mortar specialist will be presenting its latest innovation: ecosphere mineral pointed insulation. The revolutionary combination of glass and the latest mortar technology not only inspires the specialist public. The Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Hubert Aiwanger, also took a guided tour of the trade fair stand by the Groppweis family of entrepreneurs.
