Come and celebrate with us.
Our story starts in 1950 when Wolfgang Fritzsche, a newly qualified master electrician, set up an electrical installation company with his wife Gisela in Bispingen, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Right from the start, Wolfgang put four pillars at the heart of WE-EF’s corporate philosophy – innovative technology, exemplary design, high quality materials and uncompromising customer service – and they’re still in place today. Wolfgang wasn’t afraid of hard work, and he was determined to be his own boss, so he happily began sourcing luminaires fromvarious manufacturers and installing them for customers all around Bispingen. However, a thought soon struck him...
“Why install other people’s luminaires when I could be creating and installing my own?” Before long, the first luminaires carrying the WE-EF name were born, the brand name coming from Wolfgang’s initials.
Right from the start, Wolfgang put four pillars at the heart of WE-EF’s corporate philosophy – innovative technology, exemplary design, high-quality materials, and uncompromising customer service – and they’re still in place today.
1960 : We built our first aluminium sand-casting foundry in 1960. Moving with the times, this was soon replaced by aluminium gravity die casting and, in turn, by aluminium high-pressure die casting. By 1972, we had established our own tool design and construction department. Today, most of our aluminium luminaire housings are produced in-house.
In the 60s, our first catalogue rolled off the presses – a modest A5 booklet, a far cry from today’s hefty A4 publication.
1970: This was a difficult time for businesses globally, but for WE-EF, it was a decade of growth, principally driven by a flourishing export trade to countries in the Middle East. With this growth came advances in R&D, including the opening of our all-new technical and test laboratories in 1975. Today, we conduct almost all the tests required for luminaire certification in-house, including resistance to heat, dust, water, and impact.
1980 : During the 1980s, the influences of the Bauhaus and HfG Ulm became increasingly apparent across our product range. In response to the demands of lighting designers, architects and engineers, our luminaires combined plain, functional design with the very best in craftsmanship and innovation
This was also the decade when our engineers developed their own lighting-specific software. Given the expense of such software at the time, it made commercial sense to develop it inhouse. The code they wrote calculating the statics of lighting columns and planning projects was used for many years.
1982 saw the establishment of our dedicated operation in Thailand to manufacture products for the Asia-Pacific region and Australia/New Zealand. Our second German production facility opened in Neuendorf im Sande, as did our new production centre in Bispingen.
1990 : A decade of technological transformation when we transitioned from wet paint to the more environmentally friendly powder coating process in 1994 and put our first CNC milling machines into operation the following year. In 1996, our design departments in Germany and Thailand fully transitioned to 3D CAD technology and soon all our processes in luminaire and tool design, as well as tool construction, were digitised.
1994 : WE-EF LUMIERE opened for business in France, a country that is now our most successful export destination and biggest national market. In the same year, WE-EF LIGHTING was founded in Melbourne, Australia. Just a few years later, the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney became a showcase for us with many buildings and facilities being illuminated by WE-EF luminaires using sustainable concepts.
1998 : Our trademark reliability was rewarded with ISO 9001 certification
2000 : At the turn of the millennium, WE-EF LIGHTING, our new North American branch, opened for business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The first of our Lightboxes, our next generation training centres designed to showcase the extraordinary things light can do, was launched in the same year.
2006 : This was a big year for us – and street lighting everywhere. That’s because it’s when we started exploring the potential of LEDs for exterior lighting. This exploration led to the introduction of our ‘butterfly’ lens for LED street lights just two years later, and ultimately to a concept now patented and recognised as state-ofthe-art – our OLC® One LED Concept.
2010: WE-EF opened in Switzerland.
2013 : We published the first of our Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Each is a complete description of the environmental life cycle of a WE-EF luminaire, from production to operation and recycling
2014 : WE-EF LEUCHTEN, our modern new glass and concrete head office in Bispingen, was completed in 2014. You might say it’s our corporate self in architecture. A year later, WE-EF LUMIERE moved to new actively environmental premises on the outskirts of Lyon. Shortly after, the first bee colonies arrived.
2015: Wolfgang Fritzsche sadly died in 2015 aged 91. A few months later, his surviving family and other shareholders began negotiations to join Sweden’s Fagerhult Group. The agreement was signed in 2017.
2019: Gisela Fritzsche, Wolfgang’s widow, died in Bispingen at the age of 96 in the very house that was once home to WE-EF’s first production site.
2021: We have always been determined to minimise the impact our products have on the environment. In 2021, we published updated Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for five luminaire series, documenting their environmental impact over their entire lifecycle in accordance with the international ISO 14025 and EN 15804 standards.
2022: Thiemo Cordes became WE-EF Group’s new CEO, promising to focus on good communication, operational excellence, and delivering results. In addition, he was – and still is – keen to develop and promote young people – the next generation of the WE-EF family.
2023: Our new AFL100 series was launched, a new generation of highly efficient LED street and area lighting luminaires that offers customers connectivity, future-proofing, and the option of Wild-Light technology. This makes the luminaires suitable for use in sensitive areas where consideration for flora and fauna is required.
2024: Sustainable street and area lighting took another step forward as we introduced two solar solutions to the AFL100 series. With a free and sustainable energy source, no CO2 emissions during the utilization phase, and extremely low operating costs, our new solar luminaires are helping modern cities and municipalities achieve their climate targets.
Today, as we celebrate 75 years of light, around 500 people make up the WE-EF family.
We are driven by performance.
We are passionate about craftsmanship.
We always have been.
We always will be.
We are 75
