THE HISTORY OF THE FABER-CASTELL COMPANY
The 1st generation - establishment of the business by Kaspar Faber (1730 - 1784)
1761 - 1784
At the beginning there was the pencil. In Stein near Nuremberg, the cabinet-maker Kaspar Faber commences production of his first pencils, the "Bleyweißsteffte", and sells them at the Nuremberg market.
The founding of FABER-CASTELL thus occurred long before the French Revolution and the forming of the United States of America.
1761 in the world:
At the age of 5, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composes his first piece of music.
The 2nd generation - Anton Wilhelm Faber (1758 - 1810)
1784 - 1810
Named after Kaspar´s son Anton Wilhelm (1784 - 1810), the 2nd generation business name is "A.W. Faber".
Anton Wilhelm expands the small craftsman´s workshop. He acquires additional real estate, enlarges the pencil production - the company grows.
The 3rd generation - Georg Leonhard Faber (1788 - 1839)
1810 - 1839
Georg Leonhard Faber leads the pencil business through difficult political and economic times, however, he is unable to avert a strong decline in production and the resultant threat to the company´s viability.
The 4th generation - Lothar von Faber (1817 - 1896)
1839 - 1896
Following the death of his father Georg Leonhard in 1839, Lothar von Faber takes over the Stein pencil factory. Having gained valuable experience in companies producing writing instruments in Paris and London, the 22 year old completely overhauls and repositions the paternal business. Driven by strong vision and an iron will, he moves the business forward. His stated goal: "...to rise to premier position by making the best products in the world...".Beginning of the Lothar von Faber era (4th family generation).
He produces the hexagonal pencil, develops the first German quality pencils and marks them with the "A. W. Faber" name - the first brand-name pencil in the world is born.
1839 in the world:
The painter Paul Cézanne, the composer Modest Mussorgskij and the oil baron John D. Rockefeller are born.
1843
"A.W. Faber" pencils are sold for the first time in America through a New York agency.
1843 in the world:
The first Thames tunnel in London is opened.
1844
Lothar von Faber establishes one of Germany's first company health insurance funds.
1844 in the world:
Birth year of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and of the French poet Paul Verlaine.
1849
The first foreign branch of the flourishing company is founded in New York in 1849. Subsidiaries in London (1851) and Paris (1855) as well as agencies in Vienna (1872) and St. Petersburg (1874) follow.
1849 in the world:
Gold rush in California.
1851
Lothar Faber establishes a "standard" for pencils which points the way ahead for the pencil industry.
1851 in the world:
The first Word Exposition takes place in London
1861
The Geroldsgruen branch factory in Upper Franconia is opened on the occasion of the 100th anniversary in 1861. Originally set up as a slate board factory, it later progresses to become one of the largest manufacturing facilities of slide rules worldwide.
1861 in the world:
In den USA, the first telegraph line between New York and San Francisco is established.
1861
On account of his immense economic and social contribution, Lothar von Faber is accorded numerous honours: In 1861 he is raised to peerage and in 1881 to hereditary baronial peerage; in 1865 he is appointed lifetime, and in 1891 hereditary, "Imperial Councillor to the Bavarian Crown".
1862 in the world:
In the USA President Lincoln declares slavery in the Southern States abolished.
1874
Lothar von Faber paves the way for the Proprietary Right in Germany (May 1875) with his petition to the Imperial Diet for the establishment of 'a proprietary right'.
1874 in the world:
The first exhibition of the "Impressionists", among them Monet, Pissaro, Renoir, Cézanne and Dégas, takes place in Paris.