WAGO - The Story behind the Company
WAGO was founded almost 70 years ago. But how did it all begin? Get an insight into the company history.
It all started with the original patent for spring pressure connection technology, which led to the founding of the family company. It was 1950. While playing cards in Berlin, brothers-in-law Heinrich Nagel and Friedrich Hohorst learned about a patent for screwless leaf spring clamps with pushbuttons, and spontaneously purchased all of the rights, including the housing, springs, current bars and rivets for a first assembly batch. This laid the cornerstone for the new family company: WAGO Klemmenwerk GmbH was founded on April 27, 1951 in Minden. Initial concepts followed, as well as highs and lows, but they were always accompanied by the conviction that screwless connection technology would be successful. The first decade was characterized by innovations, products, patents, and the first successes at home and abroad.
- 1951: Acquisition of the original Terminal Block (including patent)
- 1952: SUPRAFIX Banana Plug
- 1953: SUPRAFIX terminal strips with pressure spring connection (12-pole); SUPRAFIX compact terminal blocks with push-buttons on both sides (2-pole)
- 1954: Small SUPRAFIX modular terminal block with pressure spring connection
- 1957: First WAGO Rail-Mount Terminal Block Family with leaf spring connection, for standardized DINrails
In 1961, Wolfgang Hohorst joined the company, bringing several new ideas with him. His vision for spring pressure connection technology – better, safer, more economical – served as an incentive for the course that he charted for the company. One pioneering decision in 1966 was the use of polyamide 6.6 instead of Duroplast for the housings for the rail-mount terminal blocks – a global first. In addition, pluggable connectors and solderable modules with spring clamp connection for printed circuit boards expanded the company’s product portfolio in the 1960s, while the use of spring pressure connection technology in electronic ballasts and capacitor terminal blocks provided WAGO with an entry into the lighting industry.
- 1961: Wolfgang Hohorst joins the company
- 1963: First Rail-Mount Terminal Blocks with 4-Conductor PUSH WIRE® Connection for the elevator and signal device industry
- 1964: First modular PCB Terminal Block with leaf spring connection
- 1965: First Pluggable Connector for PCBs with leaf spring connection
- 1966: The world’s first use of polyamide 6.6 for the housing of rail-mount terminal blocks
- 1968: First screwless pluggable terminals blocks for capacitors
- 1969: First screwable/pluggable terminal block for control gears
A decade of innovations: WAGO’s developments changed the markets in the 1970s. In 1974, the new junction box connectors dramatically restructured electrical wiring with PUSH WIRE® connection technology for solid conductors. Three years later, in 1977, the CAGE CLAMP® transformed connection technology for all conductor types. WAGO presented the first Rail-Mount Terminal Blocks with CAGE CLAMP® connection technology, and sold the first 30,000 modules even before the market launch. A short while later, the refinement of the CAGE CLAMP® followed – the addition of front-entry wiring – which proved its versatility even in the smallest spaces.
- 1971: WAGO France established
- 1972: First WAGO Field-Wiring Terminal Block
- 1974: WAGO PUSH WIRE® Connector for Junction Boxes
- 1977: WAGO Rail-Mount Terminal Block with CAGE CLAMP® Connection (cage clamp spring)
- 1977: WAGO Switzerland established
- 1979: Compact Terminal Block with CAGE CLAMP® Connection (cage clamp spring)
- 1979: WAGO Austria and WAGO USA established