WOLF-Garten, the brand name in the garden market
For more than 80 years, red and yellow have been synonymous for excellent gardening technology. Starting with the first WOLF-Garten tool ever produced, a field hoe modified into a drag hoe, the company's founder, August Wolf, simplified field work for farmers.
Hereby started an exemplary success story, which made WOLF-Garten one of the largest full-service suppliers with the widest range of products for hobby gardeners in Europe.
The red and yellow brand with its above-average awareness levels ensures unique product recognition. Convincing quality features, documented by a large number of quality seals and successes in comparison tests, ensure high trust levels with consumers. Continuous intensive research and development, for example in WOLF-Garten's own large lawn research institute, provide a mine of information for innovation potential. This means that the company in Betzdorf is geared for the future within Germany and throughout Europe.
The success story
On his daily journey home in 1927, Gregor Wolf watched the farmers working in the fields. It occurred to him that the usual way of working in those times with a field hoe could be made easier by modifying the tool. This was the birth of the so-called draw hoe.
The market success of the new tool was so convincing that a new era in garden care and in history was started in the hardware goods factory founded by August Wolf and his sons Gregor and Otto in 1922 in Betzdorf an der Sieg. Wolf's invention was the reason for shifting the main focus of production to small agricultural implements, and was therefore a decisive step in the development of the company.
The extensive potential for innovation exhibited by WOLF-Garten was clear even in 1919: The cost-saving "acetylene welding process" was invented in the forge operated at the time by August Wolf. Apart from the invention itself, the associated competitive edge over other iron-working companies was an important factor in the success of Wolf's company. In addition to these cost-effective products and specialisation on the "green market", an extensive marketing strategy also created high levels of product awareness for WOLF-Garten products long before the introduction of the first lawnmower. In the 1920's, a catalogue of the company's products was made available to dealers and customers throughout Europe. The catalogue, which started as a simple list, was developed in the mid 20s into a customer magazine with extensive advisory competence. In 1923, the wolf's head was introduced as the company's brandmark. The increasing specialisation on the gardening sector was communicated to the outside world by the conversion of the company to "WOLF-Geräte GmbH".
The decades of experience in the manufacture of durable blades for the gardening sector was ideal for the increasing trend to open lawns in the private and public sector during the 50s. Thus, in 1953, Wolf-Geräte was the first company in Europe to produce a lawnmower with a rotating blade. As early as 1958, it was followed by the first electric lawnmower on the European market, and in 1975 by the world's quietest petrol lawnmower. Moreover, during the following decades, technical developments from WOLF-Garten made lawn care considerably easier. This ensured that the range of push, battery, electric and petrol lawnmowers was able to cope efficiently with the wide range of demands and lawn sizes. In 1996, WOLF-Garten established a new product sector with the introduction of the ride-on lawnmower "Scooter": The fun concept in the lawnmower market.
In 2000, at the International Garden Exhibition in Cologne, the concept study of a lawn tractor "zero" guided by laser was presented to the public for the first time. In the new millennium, a new generation of electric lawnmowers with automatic motorised cable coiling introduced new standards in the field of safety. Futuristic technology was also created by WOLF-Garten with the presentation of the first prototype of a hydrogen-based fuel-cell lawnmower in 2003. In 2004, WOLF-Garten introduced a manual lawnmower with the patented blade changing system "Mach 15". A complete relaunch of trimmers with rotatable housing has set new trends in this product sector. Also in the field of lawn research technology, WOLF-Garten has made exceptional achievements. The largest lawn research site in Europe was created back in 60s, and the best lawn seed and fertiliser were added to the product range. Technology and care from WOLF-Garten were used for the lawns in front of the previous Federal Chancellery in Bonn, as well as the playing fields for the football World Cup and European Championships. Germany won the football World Championship in 1990 on lawns by WOLF-Garten.
What started more than 80 years ago with a draw hoe, has now evolved into a company that provides its customers with everything they need for their gardening work in a reliable and competent manner.