1960 – The Beatles start their legendary Hamburg period at the Indra Club

Carl-Wilhelm Edding and Volker D. Ledermann found their company with a start-up capital of DEM 5,000. The first felt-tip marker, imported from Japan, is called the edding No. 1. It is distributed from basement offices in Hamburg-Barmbek.


1965 - Joanne K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter, born in the English town of Yate

planMaster brand founded (today known as Legamaster) with products for planning and visual communication.


1970 – Apollo 13 starts its mission to the moon but has to turn back because of a technical malfunction: Houston, we have a problem.

The founders move out of the basement and into new offices by the docks in Hamburg. Warehouse owners and forwarding agents are already using edding markers. Soon, the products offered by the two young men start to attract the attention of office-products businesses. This success has consequences: edding needs more space for its distribution. On the outskirts of Hamburg, an ideal industrial zone - complete with good transport links - is springing up in Ahrensburg. Since yachtsman Edding and horse-lover Ledermann both live north of the Hanseatic city - and given that the site is equidistant between their homes - it doesn’t take long for them to decide to move to Ahrensburg.


1978 – The first episode of TV soap Dallas is screened in the US

For the first time, edding introduces its paint markers for challenging applications:  the markers have an opaque, paint-like ink offering maximum resistance to heat and light - even on dark and transparent surfaces.


1986 – Germany lose 3:2 to Argentina in the World Cup finals in  Mexico

Flotation of edding. A subscription period for non-voting preference shares is set from 22nd to 24th October 1986.  However, oversubscription means that 22nd October is the last date on which applications are accepted. On 29th October 1986, the price is fixed for the first time in free trading on the Hamburg stock exchange (Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse Hamburg). With a par value of DEM 50 per share, the share price ends the day at DEM 320. Today, shares in the company are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt, Hamburg, London and on the electronic Xetra exchange.

The new distribution and logistics centre in Wunstorf near Hanover is built.  It is still based here to this day.


1990 – Reunification of Germany after 41 years

A new administrative building is officially opened in Ahrensburg. The 21,000 m² site is home to a modern, well-lit office building and an efficient, high-rack warehouse with room for 6,000 pallets.


1992 – Willy Brandt, Nobel Prize winner and pioneer of Ostpolitik, dies.

In the east German town of Bautzen, the company opens a new production site. The ultramodern plant makes a total of 60 million edding products each year.

edding has now been a generic term for permanent markers for several years.  The company enjoys a good reputation in industry because it can offer markers for a large number of specialist areas.  Examples include the tyre marker, the tile marker, the x-ray marker and the skin marker. Inscriptions added using an edding marker need to adhere to the surface even where it is hot, damp or greasy. Blood bags, for example, are labelled using edding markers.  This means it must be guaranteed that the ink will not penetrate the bag during storage.


1995 – Jacques Chirac elected President of France

edding Director Volker D. Ledermann awarded the renowned B.A.U.M prize for his commitment to the environment.


1998 – End of the Kohl era: after 16 years, the SPD are back in power

edding takes over the shares in Dutch company LEGA Industrie B.V., founding edding Lega International B.V. in the Netherlands and edding Lega International B.V in Belgium.

In the following year, the planMASTER and Lega ranges are merged to create the new Legamaster brand.


2000 – The much-anticipated Millennium bug fails to materialise

edding continues its expansion abroad. Subsidiaries are founded in Italy, Greece and Argentina. Turkey and France follow a year later.


2005 – A German Pope: Joseph Ratzinger becomes Pope Benedict XVI.

Volker D. Ledermann hands over to the next generation: his son, Per Ledermann, joins the Board and takes over operational responsibility for future business development.

edding is a key player in the formulation of the “Ehrenkodex”, a code of practice for the German paper, office products and stationery industry.  Key entities in the industry join together to sign the framework document laying down principles of fair business in the sector.
www.pbs-ehrenkodex.de


2007 – Berlin has a new star – Knut, the polar bear cub

Former German Minister for Economic Affairs, Wolfgang Clement, awards edding with the “Top Job” seal of quality, making edding one of the top 100 best employers in Germany among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  In his speech, Clement gives particular credit to the market leader for markers in the areas of “Leadership and Vision”, “Motivation and Dynamism”, “Culture and Communi¬cation”, “Staff Development and Prospects”, “Family and Social Awareness” and “Internal Entrepreneurship”.


2008 – Barack Obama elected 44th President of the USA

990 solar panels on the roof of the production site in Bautzen generate “green” emission-free electricity. The 7,000 m² photovoltaic plant generates around 160,000 Kilowatt hours of solar power every year, an annual saving of 140,275 kg of CO2 that would otherwise have been produced by conventional means of electricity generation. What’s more, it’s edding AG’s second plant: since October 2007, solar panels have been adorning the roof of edding HQ in Ahrensburg.

edding has its three German sites audited and certified to environmental management standard ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001, an internationally recognised standard for occupational health and safety management systems.

In recognition of its outstanding strategic orientation, edding is presented with the Axia award by audit and consulting firm Deloitte in the category for small and medium-sized enterprises. The jury, chaired by Dr. Egbert Kahle (Lüneburg University), was won over not just by edding’s clear focus on earnings but also by the great importance the company attaches to social responsibility and a commitment to the environment.


2009: – In Copenhagen, nations convene at the UN Climate Change Conference in an attempt to find a successor to the Kyoto Protocol

edding manages to increase the share of recycled material used in its EcoLine series: previously, at least 80 per cent of this permanent marker and board marker range was made of recycled material. From January 2010, the total content of recycled material used will be at least 90 per cent. The edding 24 highlighter will now be available in two new colours containing an ink based on naturally available substances. This saves on resources because no finite raw materials, such as crude oil, are needed to produce it.