GELO celebrates 125 years of company history
We do not have the
tree invented.
But us 
busy with Him.
2023
In 1898, three timber merchants founded a sawmill called GEbhart and Gebr. LOchner. The success story GELO starts.
125 years later, we look back into the past with senior boss Christian Küspert Jr. and the current management Wolf-Christian Küspert and dare to take a look into the future.
Time Travel GELO
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The first years
Hard work and drive - these were probably the reasons for the company's rapid success. After just a short time, GELO had 12 employees, and the workforce grew ever faster in the years that followed. And the location was also chosen strategically: although there was no rail connection in Weißenstadt when GELO was founded, the location of the desired establishment was already known at that time. The company's premises were therefore chosen on Sparnecker Strasse, in the immediate vicinity of the city's future train station.
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1910s
When the First World War broke out, 60 people were already working for GELO. In addition, a wood wool production and wood wool spinning mill were taken over during this decade, which made GELO increasingly more efficient. The major setback came after the end of the First World War: a major fire shocked the founders and staff on November 1, 25. A 1918-year laborious construction - burned down within 20 minutes. But the enthusiasm was great: work began immediately to rebuild the factory.
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1920s and 1930s
The factory, which had reopened after the fire, started the new decade bigger than before: there were now 4 sawmills in operation in the sawmill, and 6 wood wool planing machines and 8 rope spinning machines were producing wood wool in the wood wool factory. In 1929, Christian Küspert joined the company. He brought not only experience but also enthusiasm and energy to the company, which was to pay off: new impulses were set, machinery was replaced by high-performance machines, employee rooms were expanded and the first "hot air drying machine" was created.
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1940s
Fortunately, GELO survived the Second World War largely unscathed, until on April 2, 10, the company was hit hard by bombs that fell nearby: all the windows were destroyed and the roofs were badly damaged. Despite the difficult post-war situation, we celebrated our 1945th anniversary with a big party in 1948. To mark this anniversary and out of gratitude for the support in the region, we donated a new 50 o'clock bell to the Jakobus Church in Weißenstadt.
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1950s
Through extensive modernization, GELO became one of the most modern sawmills in Germany at the time. A large gantry crane was installed, the sawmill was partially automated and a huge sawn timber sorting system was built.
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1960s
Due to a lack of demand, wood wool production came to an end in 1969. GELO therefore ventured into plastic production for a short time and also produced polystyrene molded parts for 20 years. For the sake of the environment, this era ended again in 1989.
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1970s
The 1970s were all about modernization: firstly, the vehicle fleet was brought up to date and the office building renovated, and secondly, state-of-the-art machines were purchased for production. In order to increase yield and make progress in terms of modernization, a double-edge circular saw and a continuous cross-cutting system were installed.
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1980s
In 1982, the company was undergoing a major change: after the Lochner family left, the fate of the company was entirely in the hands of Christian Küspert junior. In parallel with the generational change, major modernization continued. GELO was a pioneer for the whole of Weißenstadt in terms of energy consumption and air purification. In 1984, GELO was connected to the natural gas network, which meant the very first conversion to natural gas in Weißenstadt. In addition, a new, modern log yard was built on a newly purchased site.
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1990s
In 1992, GELO suffered its second major fire disaster. On June 27, 1992, almost the entire factory was destroyed. But this time, too, we and our staff did not give up: after only 10 months of construction, the new factory was inaugurated in the summer of 1993. Just 5 years later, in 1998, we celebrated our 100th anniversary and to mark the occasion, the first website was designed at www.gelo.de.
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2000s
We started the 2000s with great success, as we were the first sawmill in Germany to receive the coveted PEFC environmental certificate. In 2003, the current managing director, Wolf-Christian Küspert, joined the company as the third Küspert generation, and the generational change was carried out in such an exemplary manner that we were even awarded the Mittelstandslöwen award for it. Our senior boss, Christian Küspert Jr., remained with the company in an advisory capacity. In addition, we made extensive innovations in this decade.
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2010s
The 2010s were all about expansion and cooperation: Together with the Wunsiedel municipal utilities, we founded WUN Bioenergie, which uses energy from our wood scraps. We market leftover wood as organic barbecue lighters under the Zarelo brand. And since 2014, regional customers have been able to buy our products in our Holzkiste factory outlet.
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2020s and future
We are starting this decade with one of the biggest investments in our future: the opening of our small-timber sawmill GELO Timber in Wunsiedel. The state-of-the-art plant is so groundbreaking that it will even be named Sawmill of the Year by Holzkurier in 2022. We have also set ourselves the ambitious goal of becoming climate-neutral. We have taken a first big step towards this with a large PV system in Weißenstadt. We will continue to pursue this course in the coming years and continue to invest in GELO - for a safe and sustainable future.
Our story
is not an inheritance.
But responsibility
for further
2023
The future for GELO
I hope that the good cooperation between all colleagues who shape GELO now and in the future will always be as constructive and confident as I am able to experience.
I hope for the same for the cooperation with all partners who are important to GELO and for whom GELO is important - from colleagues in the forestry sector, to logisticians, to customers, technical suppliers, local authorities and many others.
GELO must and will continue to change and develop. It would be great if, in 125 years, the Fichtel Mountains and the raw material wood from the region would still be the basis for GELO's business.
In this context, I hope that we all succeed in preserving our forests and the valuable raw materials at home.
To the next decades.
Wolf-Christian Küspert
