History

But the end of the First World War in 1918 also marked the end of the king's reign, and Christian Winkler lost his position as Royal Court Blacksmith of Wuerttemberg. The supervisory commission of the Allied occupation forces moved into the vacant rooms of the former Marstall stables. Repairing the springs of their vehicles kept the smithies up and running. But in 1923, when the Marstall was taken over by the palace garden association called Schloßgartenbau AG and turned into stores, Christian Winkler and his sons had to leave the court for good.

Development work for car manufacturers was added, as well as the serial production of springs, stabilizers and other parts. Using its own developed techniques, the company straightened axles and repaired axle bearings and steering knuckle bearings. In 1939, Winkler expanded the company by constructing a large production hall. During the years of the war, the company became involved in the arms program. In 1944, the plant was destroyed by a blockbuster bomb. The new production hall was the only building to survive the war. The family endured the end of the war in the small village of Suppingen on the Alb, where they also stored their most valuable machines.

The site of the former workshop building, which was rebuilt and expanded, was soon too small. So the company moved to a larger building on the street called Wolframstrasse and built new company workshops and an administration building. By repairing axles, winkler was a pioneer in the field and able to build up a financial base. Business was running so well that the brothers soon realized that even the new facilities had become too small, which is why they acquired additional property on Wolframstrasse. By 1960, a stately new building was constructed here, containing a welding shop, a lathing shop, a warehouse, assembly shops and offices.

To accommodate the company's growth, branch operations were set up in Stuttgart-Weilimdorf in 1964, under the leadership of Ludwig Winkler Jr., because there was not enough space in the street of Wolframstrasse for large vehicles, frames and heavy construction parts. Eight years later, in 1972, the brothers Ludwig and Wilhelm handed the helm over to a new generation of managing directors: Ludwig Winkler Jr. (technical management), Hans Winkler (sales, materials management, organization) and Albert Schlack (finance and personnel) led the company from this point on. At the same time, the advisory board was created as the top supervisory body.

winkler quickly became a full-range carrier, with operations throughout all of Germany. To guarantee and increase availability, the first central warehouse was launched in Ulm in 1987, followed by the second central warehouse in Kassel in 1996. But this expansion of locations was not only promoted in Germany. By opening the Härkingen plant in Switzerland, the first foreign location was established in 1994, and the export company winkler Truck and Trailer Parts at the headquarters in Stuttgart laid the foundation for international trade. Due to rapid growth, in 1998 the headquarters had to move from the street of Wolframstrasse to Heilbronner Strasse as the facilities were "bursting at the seams."

Today, winkler is strong with over 40 operations in seven countries. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, winkler supports commercial vehicle owners and workshops as well as omnibus companies and agricultural companies. Goods are shipped to customers from three of Europe's largest central warehouses for commercial vehicle parts, with over 200,000 spare parts. As a result of this magnitude, the company counted over 1,600 employees and generated sales of 580 million euros. These are numbers that company founder Christian Winkler would probably never have dared to dream of.