The company founder Barbara Pfeifer lost her man in the last war in 1945. With her three children she was facing the void in the Tyrolean town of Imst. Her determination will was stronger than her stroke of faith. In 1948 she founded a custom cutting saw mill. During that time – and in a sector that was thoroughly dominated by men – it was a unique act of self-determination.
What followed in the following decades was a business life performance together with Barbara Pfeifer’s children Oskar, Fritz and Bernhard. Out of the family pioneer spirit one of the larger and leading companies of the European timber industry developed.
From saw mill to further processing: The brothers Oskar, Fritz and Bernhard walk for the first time along the path of further processing of sawn timber. The value chain from round wood goes beyond the sole custom cutting activity. The production of shuttering panels in Imst starts.
The Pfeifer company grows, expands and exports. Additional resources are needed. The purchase and the following expansion of the saw mill in Kundl (A) is the logic consequence.
The next step to expand the product range - the production of one- and three-ply single- and three-ply panels begins.
Pfeifer founds the a glulam factory
in Imst.
For the first timeformwork beams are produced in Imst.
Pfeifer manages in Imst the first glulam factory worldwide with an output of more than 100.000 m³.
With the acquisition of the shuttering panels plant in Schlitz (Germany) begins a period of growth that is at the same time diligently directed and also dynamically managed. It is the first among many companies under the umbrella of the Pfeifer Group.
In the framework of a closed added value cycle and optimal use of resources, Pfeifer starts to produce pellets briquettes out of the wood chips and saw dust.
The Anton Heggenstaller GmbH with seat in Unterbernbach (Germany) was one of the most important among the wood processing companies in Germany. In 2005 the company joined the Pfeifer Group.
The strategic advantages of the acquisition are enormous: Thanks to this step, Pfeifer decisively widens its know-how, production capacities and product range. The plants in Bavaria and the Czech Republic work at a logistically convenient short distance from forested areas.
Hesse is a good terrain for the timber industry. 42% of the Hesses surface is covered by forests. The company group builds therefore a new factory in the Hessian Lauterbach.
On the 50 hectares wide business land was built a conifer wood saw mill designed according to the newest standards, a green power plant and a pallet block factory. Investment volume: 120 million Euros.
The Pfeifer Group brings together the know-how of its subsidiary brands to a uniform image. After a comprehensive brand development process, all sites in Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany trade under the Pfeifer name. Brand claim:
Passion for timber.
The Czech region of Pilsen, beside the production of beer, has also other activities. The timber industry is one of them. Pfeifer acquires from the Haas Group the company „Holzindustrie Chanovice s.r.o.“. A new step towards the strengthening of the market position.
At a strategically ideal time, Pfeifer is expanding its product portfolio from fall 2019 and positioning itself in the dynamic market for cross laminated timber (CLT). The first expansion stage is designed for 50,000 m³ of CLT annually, the second is to double capacities from the end of 2020. This will put Pfeifer among the top 5 CLT manufacturers worldwide.
A good 25 million euros will be invested in the conversion and expansion of the traditional Schlitz site. The nearby Lauterbach site will serve as a central supplier for the state-of-the-art CLT plant.
At the turn of the year 2020/2021, the finger-jointing line in the glulam plant was replaced with an investment volume of almost 6 million euros. After a short period of downtime, the optimized plant has been in full operation since January 2021 and the BSH plant is living up to its reputation as one of the most modern of its kind in Europe.
The solid wood panel plant was also expanded. A new logistics center was already implemented in the industrial zone in the previous year.
The extension to the existing headquarters includes 40 offices with around 75 workstations, modern meeting rooms and recreation rooms.
After signing the contract in December 2022 and successfully closing in January 2023, Pfeifer takes over the Finnish wood processor Pölkky Oy. As a result, the Pfeifer Group is growing to 13 locations with a total of 2,600 employees.
The transaction is part of a well-considered growth strategy. In addition to the attractive Scandinavian market, Pfeifer is thus also opening up new sources of supply with regard to the high-quality raw material in order to sustainably secure the Group's security of supply and ability to deliver.
The Pfeifer Group today is a family managed company at its third generation.