Founder awarded with Golden Badge of Honour
Competence, innovation, sustainability, family business – these are the values that the international heating system company “Hargassner” stands for today with around 185,000 customers worldwide and 1,250 employees. The company is already present in more than 43 countries and the export rate is over 75 %.
It all started in 1984 when biomass pioneer Anton Hargassner Sr. made a promise to his wife Elisabeth:
“I’m going to build you a boiler that you’ll never have to fill again”.
Today, Anton Hargassner senior and his wife Elisabeth are regarded as visionaries. But even he could not have foreseen how his patents and inventions would develop.
“Our father only convinced our mother to use his self-built wood-fired heating system by promising her that she would never have to refuel it,” explains Markus Hargassner, who runs the family business together with his brother Anton Hargassner Jr. In 1984, the first wood chip system went into operation,” continues Markus Hargassner
The path to becoming a global player was marked by challenging pioneering work. However, the first pellet boilers followed in 1998, followed by log boilers in 2011. The automatic heating systems have evolved into state-of-the-art, intelligently controlled systems.
Ceremony in the new service centre
The first official highlight of the anniversary year took place on the morning of 5th April in the form of a birthday party with more than 500 invited guests at the company’s headquarters in Weng im Innkreis. The ceremony took place in the 32,000 m2 Service Centre, which is still under construction.
Provincial Governor Thomas Stelzer, District Governor Gerald Kronberger and Weng’s Mayor Gerhard Wiesner were joined by the company founders, Anton and Elisabeth Hargassner, the owners of the first Hargassner heating system, the Schaller family, and the first installation partner, Wimmer-Installationen from Altheim. Also on stage was the very first wood chip boiler produced by Hargassner – the “Hargassner Number 1”. After 20 years of reliable use, Hargassner bought it back for the permanent exhibition in the Energy World. Many representatives of the press and several hundred employees were also present. A special highlight: ski star Andreas Goldberger hosted the event.
Emotional honour - double gold
Many special people have been responsible for the success of the Hargassner company from the very beginning. But it all began with the company’s two founders. The Governor of Upper Austria, Thomas Stelzer, surprised everyone with the emotional highlight of the ceremony. He awarded Anton Hargassner Sr. and Elisabeth Hargassner with the Gold Medal of Merit of the Province of Upper Austria. The two biomass pioneers’ outstanding life’s work and commitment to the people, the region and the energy revolution were thus honoured with the highest award the state can bestow. The two were visibly moved as they received the award.
Entertaining programme and anecdotes
Even though the management of the company was handed over to the sons Markus and Anton Hargassner Jr. two years ago, it was particularly quiet in the huge new hall during the interview with the “boss” and the “bosses”. Many stories and anecdotes have taken place over four decades. Hargassner retiree, Erwin Doleschal, one of the first technicians, knew how to entertain the audience with some of them and a lot of input on the technology and the products.
Aloisia Wimmleitner, a member of the office staff from the very beginning, recounted how in 1984, when the first advertising brochure was published, the “boss” asked her if she had any idea of what could be used as a “symbol” for the company. She drew the symbol that would become the Hargassner logo in the margin of a newspaper: the red letter H, formed by two logs.
The Hargassner birthday party had a lot more to offer: in addition to a guided tour for media representatives through the existing large assembly halls with a gross floor area of 75,000 m2, the guests were treated to an entertaining round of talks. They learnt about the directors’ visions for the future and that Anton Hargassner had run a predecessor company as an excavator firm before 1984. Josef Hargassner, the senior boss’s brother and officially the first employee, had also worked for this company.
The current directors gave an insight into the future strategic direction of the company, which has evolved from a biomass specialist to a full-service provider of renewable heating systems based on biomass, thermal solar panels and, from 2024, air-to-water heat pumps.
The social part of the event began with the arrival of around 40 apprentices. They accompanied the large anniversary cake, which had been brought in by forklift truck, with a star-spangled flourish to general applause. After all, there were more than 400 pieces of cake. The celebrations continued into the night.
The most comprehensive range in the industry
Specialising in central heating with wood, the Wenger heating specialists today offer systems in the output range of 6 – 330 kW for pellet boilers, 17 – 60 kW for wood logs and 20 to 2,500 kW for wood chips. For industrial heating, the Magno series is available from 250 – 2,500 kW. When cascaded, these powerful systems deliver up to 10 megawatts of thermal energy.
The range covers all requirements from low heat demand to agricultural biomass district heating power plants. combi boilers for logs and pellets reach many new customer groups with maximum convenience and crisis security. A biomass CHP (Combined heat power) generates heat and electricity. The accessories for fuel extraction systems, refuelling systems and accumulator tanks are also extensive.
Premium solar collectors have been part of the range for three years. Hargassner is the only manufacturer in the world to hold the patent for vacuum flat-plate collectors. High potential is seen in the 2024 innovation, the new air-to-water monobloc heat pump Airflow-M with 5 to 20 kW. It heats or cools as required and offers a wide performance range.
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