WMF

WMF was founded in Geislingen, Germany, in 1853, when mill owner Daniel Straub established the "Metallwarenfabrik Straub & Schweizer" together with the Schweizer brothers, starting with 16 employees, as the official "Historie" page recounts. The WMF name (Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik) and the Geislingen headquarters remain the company's today.

The same history page dates the company's entry into professional coffee machines to 1927, with the start of production of its first "Großkaffeemaschinen" (large coffee machines), followed in 1929 by the gas-fired model 312 in Cromargan stainless steel, in 1953 by the model 1000 (described as the company's first major commercial breakthrough in this market), and in 1969 by the Programat, presented as the world's first fully automatic, electronically controlled batch-brew coffee machine.

The wmf-coffeemachines.com site, dedicated to the professional line, states in its footer that "WMF is part of Groupe SEB", the French group that also owns brands such as Tefal, Krups, Rowenta and Moulinex. Alongside the WMF Professional Coffee Machines division, aimed at HoReCa and offices, the WMF Consumer brand makes cutlery, cookware and small kitchen appliances for home use.