In April 1925, Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll founded the company “Fezer & Stoll” which was dedicated to the manufacture of woodworking machines. The following year, they filed their first patent for a versatile universal carpentry machine (ZUM). The brand name Festo which was used for the first time at ZUM for the sale of products, is derived from the surnames of the two founders and has stood for innovation ever since. After a few years, Albert Fezer left the company and Gottlieb Stoll took over sole responsibility.
With the support of his wife Berta, he succeeds in further developing and expanding the company. From the very beginning, he pursued the principles of rationalization in the company in order to optimize work processes both in his own company and for his customers.
The company's first headquarters in Ulmer Straße in Esslingen am Neckar was built in 1939 where all areas of the business were now united under one roof. Modern production and office space is created here, equipped with the most advanced production machines and technologies.
Maschinenfabrik Gottlieb Stoll manufactures stair milling machines, drilling machines, beam planers, hand-held circular saws and disk sanders - but also stationary machines such as parallel saws, chain milling and polishing machines, blind milling machines and tenoning and slotting machines.
In 1950, Kurt Stoll, the eldest son of Gottlieb and Berta Stoll, learns about pneumatics at the trade fair in Chicago and recognizes its potential for automation. He brings pneumatics to Germany and develops it further in his father's company. In the mid-1950s, the Festo Pneumatics division was established and the company began manufacturing pneumatic cylinders.
Kurt and and his brother Wilfried Stoll make a significant contribution to Festo's success story.
Kurt completed his engineering studies at the Technical University of Stuttgart in 1959 where he set new standards with his diploma thesis on pneumatic control technology. In 1992, he received an honorary doctorate from the Vienna University of Technology.
While Kurt embarked on a technical career, Wilfried pursued a career in business administration. He graduated with a degree in business administration from the University of World Trade in Vienna in 1962 and obtained a doctorate in integrated corporate planning from the Vienna University of Economics and Business in 1969.
The brothers were active in the management and later on the supervisory board of Festo for decades. They have received numerous awards for their achievements and commitment to business, including the 2023 Business Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
Festo grows and becomes international: the first national subsidiary is founded in Italy in 1956, followed by further foundations in Switzerland, France and Austria. While Kurt Stoll heads the Festo Pneumatics division, his brother Wilfried Stoll becomes the first Managing Director of Festo Austria. He drives forward the international positioning and the founding of new Festo companies to strengthen the brand.
Since around 1970, the production of stationary woodworking machines has decreased significantly in favour of the production of electric and pneumatic tools.
The production of stationary woodworking machines ends in 1975. Hoffmann Dübelfix Bruchsal takes over the production of tenoning machines, chain milling machines and louver milling machines, while HOLZ-HER continues to produce profiling machines, joinery machines and finger jointing lines.
Since then, Festo became a major manufacturer of power and pneumatic tools and built up a dense network of sales offices in Germany and abroad.
The woodworking tools division has no longer been part of the FESTO Group since January 1, 2000 and since then has been operating with the Festool, Protool and Tanos brands, among others, under the name TTS Tooltechnic Systems AG & Co. KG, Wendlingen.
Information Sources: