100,000 and counting
With some 100,000 escalators and moving walks installed worldwide, we’re helping improve urban mobility in cities everywhere, today and tomorrow.
Game-changing elevator service
We launch MAX, the elevator industry’s first real-time, cloud-based predictive maintenance service solution.
Reaching new heights
We hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Rottweil test tower where we’ll test the MULTI and featuring Germany’s highest viewing platform.
A new era of mobility in buildings
We present the MULTI concept, the world's first rope-free elevator.
Fostering urban mobility
We launch ACCEL, a new transportation system that helps alleviate traffic congestion at metro stations and airports.
First pitless moving walk
We launch iwalk, a radical new engineering approach to moving walks. A pitless modular concept addresses most conventional design restrictions and offers new possibilities for architects and owners alike.
Moving people at One World Trade Center
thyssenkrupp supplies elevators and escalators for One World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., among them the fastest elevators in the western hemisphere.
Investment for the future
We open a new elevator plant in Madrid, Spain.
Investing in innovation
We launch our most advanced real-scale prototyping laboratory, the thyssenkrupp Innovation Center in Gijón, Spain.
Most modern production site in China
We inaugurate the most modern production site in China for escalators and passenger boarding bridges in Zhongshan.
Tallest freestanding escalator
We install the tallest freestanding escalator at Zeche Zollverein, a former coal mine industrial complex and today a UNESCO World Heritage site in Essen, Germany.
World-class in-house training
Seed campus, our first elevator in-house training center, opens in Madrid, Spain. Today our global training network consists of 12 locations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. This network enables our technicians to keep pace with current and future requirements.
Boarding the largest aircraft
thyssenkrupp Elevator supplies its first passenger boarding bridges for the Airbus A380.
Successes in service business
The company is awarded a service contract for the Sydney Opera House, Australia, and a US$50 million contract to equip Dubai International Airport with 117 passenger boarding bridges.
Expansion in Asia Pacific
A joint venture with Dongyang Elevator, South Korea, positions us for further expansion in the Asia Pacific region and leads to the establishment of a dedicated business unit in the region in 2003.
Renamed as thyssenkrupp Elevator
We change the name of the company from Thyssen Lifts and Escalators Limited to Thyssenkrupp Elevator UK Limited, reflecting the company’s global brand identity.
New research center
thyssenkrupp Elevator opens its third research center in Stuttgart (Germany), in addition to centers in San Diego (U.S.) and Nice (France).
The TWIN revolution
We install the world’s first elevator with two independent cabins in one shaft at the University of Stuttgart.
Major acquisition in South America
The acquisition of Kone operations in South America increases our impact in one of the world’s most dynamic regions.
Becoming an independent corporation
To address the growing importance of our elevator business, we create an independent corporation – today’s thyssenkrupp Elevator AG - under thyssenkrupp AG.
World’s longest escalator
At 100 meters long and a 30% slope, we deliver what was then the world’s longest escalator at the Namesti Miru subway station in Prague.
Fastest rise to the top
We install high-speed elevators at London’s British Telecom tower, operating at 7 m/s – the fastest in the UK.
Major acquisition in North America
Acquiring Dover Elevators in the U.S and Canada makes us the world’s third largest elevator manufacturer.
Starting up in Asia Pacific
The launch of thyssenkrupp Elevator China and a dedicated elevator and escalator factory in Zhongshan, China, marks our entry into the Asia Pacific region.
Unique escalator installation
We install 16 nearly self-suspended escalators under a 40-meter glass atrium at the London Underwriting Centre
New factory in Spain
As thyssenkrupp Elevator grows, production capacities expand and a new escalator factory starts up in northern Spain.
Entering the home solutions market
The acquisition of the Dutch chairlift manufacturer De Reus signals the start of our Home Solutions business.
Across the Atlantic
The leap across the Atlantic takes place in 1986 with the acquisition of a stake in Northern Elevator Holdings Ltd. in Toronto. With a foothold in Canada, the U.S. market gradually begins to open up.
Expansion in Europe
The most important acquisition in Germany is the takeover of M.A.N.-Aufzugbau in 1984. It marks the start of our expansion in Europe. The focus in subsequent years is on internationalization.
Entered the Irish market
We establish our operations in Ireland
Our beginnings
Our elevator and escalator business dates back to the 1860s and 1880s when our predecessor companies were founded in Hamburg and Stuttgart, Germany. They develop and install the first vertical conveyor for people called Paternoster in 1890 and Germany’s first escalator in 1906. In the 1950s, former Thyssen Industrie acquires a stake in these companies.
After 1970, the acquisition of several smaller elevator manufacturers in Germany and Western Europe, combined with the construction of an elevator factory in Neuhausen near Stuttgart, leads to major developments in elevators and escalators.
For further information on the history of thyssenkrupp AG please see here: