Since its foundation in 1881 FSB has lived by following market impulses. Always on the pulse of the "zeitgeist". Usually daring to anticipate new trends. Invariably committed to the traditions of craftsmanship.

It all began with furniture fittings.

Historic furniture fitting models and simple devotional articles made of brass were in demand in 1881, when the company founder Franz Schneider entered the scene of metal fittings in Iserlohn in the Sauerland hills. His success proved him right: by the turn of the century, his product range already filled a sizeable catalogue.

The 1920s – under the eaves of Bauhaus

In 1909, the company’s founder Franz Schneider moved from the Sauerland to the Weser Hills. In Brakel, he had discovered a deserted factory site which became his permanent choice of location. He made a point of adding the letter B to his initials F and S and proudly marketed the company’s first door and window furniture in silver and black under the new company name FSB.

The 1950s – years of the post-war building boom

During the building boom in the reconstruction phase after 1945, FSB discovered light metal as a new material for its products. In Brakel, the contemporary spirit of that period featuring bag-shaped lamp shades and kidney-shaped tables was honoured with swinging, colourful entrance door designs that can still be admired today in some older shop fronts.

The 1960s – Johannes Potente, the anonymous industrial designer

Between 1953 and 1963 the chaser, toolmaker and training supervisor Johannes Potente developed his classic hand form design at FSB. His designs are well-known, but nobody knows his name. The anonymous industrial design by Johannes Potente was honoured by experts in keeping with its merits only after his death. His designs were then added to famous collections of design models such as the MoMA in New York.

The 1980s – the grey catalogues of the School of Ulm

Under the intellectual leadership of Otl Aicher FSB has embarked on a new strategy during the last 20 years, without denying its century-old corporate tradition. With a stylized handle (fashioned along the lines of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s door handle) and a stylized hand as a reminder that door handles are really extensions of the hand, Aicher furnished the graphical cornerstones of our new corporate image.