FSB Experience

It is difficult for our colleagues in North America to fully understand the FSB design culture and who we are as a company knowing that the world headquarters for FSB is in Germany.

FSB was originally located in Iserlohn, Germany where Franz Schneider set up shop in 1881 as a maker of brass antique-style cabinet fittings and supporting hardware. Both were exceedingly modern at the time and our founder was good at catering to prevailing trends. With the company having grown considerably, in 1909 the headquarters was moved to a small town called Brakel in the district of Hoxter in North Rhine-Westphalia. Frank Schneider promptly added a “B” for Brakel to his initials and the proud FSB brand was born.

In the 1950’s, design and architecture, which had gone into retreat with the closure of the Bauhaus and the turmoil of war, were now substantively revived. Of course FSB was at the forefront of the trend and “good form” design was adopted in Brakel. Between 1953 and 1963: Johannes Potente created our molded-to-the-hand style at FSB, a design element still prevalent today and the source of inspiration for Otl Aicher to draw up our “Four-Point Guide to Good Grip”. Specialists and the general public caught on to Potente’s industrial design in a big way and four door levers he designed with FSB joined important collections in the permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Just as the design culture was growing at FSB, we never ceased refining our manufacturing processes either: an ongoing policy of modernizing and optimizing production technologies has ensured that our products last and that we continue to be conscious of the environment.

There are many milestones to celebrate in our company’s history as well as excitement for what’s to come. So it is no surprise that we love the opportunity to take friends to our home in Brakel so they too can experience where FSB came from and where we are going. Below are the chronicles of these trips to FSB in Germany that we like to call, “The FSB Experience”