Caterpillar in Germany – History

Caterpillar is proud of its rich history in Germany—through the acquisition of MaK in Kiel, MWM in Mannheim and other entities, Caterpillar has had a presence throughout the country for over 180 years.

• 1826: Eisenhütte Westfalia became the first supplier for the worldwide mining industry, forming the core of Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH and Caterpillar’s longwall underground mining group.  

• 1866: Forty years later, an ordnance depot began the industrial production that evolved into MaK Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH. Acquired by Caterpillar in 1997, today’s Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG is globally recognized for its medium-speed diesel and gas engines for marine, oil and gas and power generation applications.  

• 1871: The automotive pioneer Carl Benz founded MWM, Motorenwerke Mannheim, renamed to Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH effective November 1, 2013. The company is part of Caterpillar’s Energy and Power Systems group specializing in the development and the production of large engines and generators.  

• 1893: O&K (Orenstein & Koppel) opened the Dortmund factory that produced products such as steam powered excavators, steam locomotive wagons and bucket dredgers. Today, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH manufactures large hydraulic mining shovels.  

• 1992: The European Excavator Design Center (EDC) was founded as a joint venture to develop and manufacture wheeled excavators for Caterpillar.  

• 2006: EDC became a Caterpillar company. At its facility in Wackersdorf, 10-25t wheeled and tracked excavators are developed and serviced. 

• 2006: Further additions to the growing family of Caterpillar companies in Germany are Progress Rail Services in Bad Dürkheim, and Electro Motive Diesel Ltd. in Hagen. Progress Rail Services was acquired as a service and solutions provider for the rail industry. 

• 2010: Electro Motive Diesel Ltd. became part of Progress Rail and Caterpillar.