Go on a journey of discovery through our history and find out more details about us below…

A strong team since 1886

A partner with tradition

It is not presumptuous to claim that ZENTNER has always been a step ahead of its time. This was already the case when the company founder Hermann Elbs had to demonstrate his pioneering spirit in the workshop. He set up an electrical control center with a gas engine, a self-built generator and rechargeable batteries as a storage unit, as the city of Freiburg did not yet have an electric power station or corresponding power supply at that time. We proudly look back on many other milestones:

1886: Foundation of the electro-mechanical precision engineering company
1948: Reconstruction of the company after a total loss due to the bomb attack in 1944
1966: Expansion of the company premises’ Helligestrasse’
1986: Third expansion
1994: Relocation to the current company premises’ Freiburg-Haid industrial area’
2016: Start of the construction of the 2500 sqm extension ‘Osthalle’
2018: Takeover of the company Ehretlab from Kollmarsreute and integration of the production and administration in the ‘Haid industrial area’
2018: Inauguration of the new building ‘Osthalle’

Would you like more information, or do you have any questions?

If you are interested in working for Zentner, we would be pleased to receive your application documents, which you can download. Please state your salary expectations and your earliest possible starting date, preferably by email to personal@zentner.de

Would you like more information, or do you have any questions?

Would you like more information, or do you have any questions?

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+49 761 45287-0

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Jechtinger Str. 15 D-79111 Freiburg

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personal@zentner.de

Further Expansion

On our premises in the ‘Jechtinger Straße,’ there has been a lot of building activity in recent years. Our company, which is over 133 years old, has expanded its production area by a further 2600 square meters. At the same time, the company Ehretlab from ‘Kollmarsreute’ was taken over. In ‘Jechtinger Straße,’ the administration and the production facility were integrated. We proudly now consist of almost 150 employees.

Renaming to ‘Elektro-Feinmechanik Ernst ZENTNER KG’:

In 1962 Ernst Zentner continued to manage the company – and now, after 30 years under his management, the company was under his name and with its primary focus on electrical installation, blackout systems, and production machines. The positive development led to the first extension of the workshop by 600 sqm in 1966. In spring 1978 Ernst Zentner handed over the management to his two sons and current company owners Graduate Engineer Hansjörg Zentner and Dr. Rolf Zentner. The success continued steadily with innovative concepts, and in 1979 the production area was expanded again to a total of 2100 sqm.

Ernst and Else Zentner take over the business:

In May 1912, Elbs had hired the electrical engineer Ernst Friedrich Zentner as a journeyman at the age of 15. His exceptional skills in this field were so highly recognized and appreciated by President Elbs that he made his young employee a partner in 1928. When the founder of the company retired at the age of 75, Ernst Zentner finally continued the company, true to its principles, and became the new owner in 1936. The Second World War brought an abrupt turning point in 1939: Ernst Zentner was called up for military service. His wife, Else Zentner, took over the management of the company in his absence.

Foundation of the electro-mechanical precision engineering company by Herman Elbs in the 19th century:

In 1886, at the suggestion of various university professors, Herman Elbs founded an electro-fine mechanical workshop in Freiburg's 'Merianstraße' 24, where the master craftsman of precision engineering manufactured precision instruments such as chronoscopes and precision balances. Initially only for Freiburg's scientific institutes, later - after participating in the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago – it was also for American universities, such as Harvard University in Cambridge and the University in Tokyo. Besides, they produced theodolites and other surveying instruments that were needed for the construction of the railway in the Elz Valley and the Kander Valley near Freiburg. Soon, an expansion of the company was necessary, and done by moving to 'Friedrichstrasse' 17. There a first electric control center with a gas engine and a self-built generator for power as well as accumulators as storage was built. At a time, Freiburg did not yet have an electric power station and, therefore, the corresponding power supply.

100 years of ZENTNER:

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the company in 1986, the production area in Helligestraße was extended for the third time in succession - this time by 900 sqm - to 3000 sqm. Just eight years later, in 1994, the more extensive production of large individual machines - in particular screen washing systems - required a further move, namely to the current company premises at ‘Jechtinger Straße’ 15 in Freiburg. Since this last expansion, ZENTNER has a total production area of 4,700 sqm at its disposal.

Reconstruction in the post-war years:

The night of bombing on November 27, 1944, put an abrupt end to all the efforts, planning, and work of the Elbs Elektrohaus: all facilities, equipment, and stocks were destroyed. Ernst Zentner returned from Russian captivity in 1949. In the meantime, Else Zentner had built up an alternative business in ‘Habsburgerstraße’ 32 with energy, diligence, and perseverance, where production could gradually be restarted.

Direct sales to the customers were made in a shop directly at the ‘Bertoldsbrunnen’ in the heart of Freiburg. And after one year of construction, a new 800 sqm factory site with workshop and office building was built in 1955 in the then newly developed industrial area Freiburg ‘Kronenmatte’ in ‘Helligestraße’ 2.

The Elektrohaus Elbs brings electric light to the turn of the century

In 1900, Elbs received approval from Freiburg's "laudable city council" to install electrical systems. As a result, he installed the "cold" electric light in many townhouses, workshops, and clinics in the city. The year 1918 brought the end of the First World War. Elbs successfully bridged the post-war years and inflation with privations, but with minor electrical work. After this era, the business flourished again, and Elbs produced equipment for scientific institutes in many countries. In addition to this, he developed electric heaters for churches and fully automatic blackout systems for lecture halls.