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Mayser
1800
Leonhard Mayser (1775-1839) opens a “hat shop” in Sterngasse in Ulm. Times are turbulent in the city occupied by Napoleon, but the company’s success is not long in coming. Mayser soon makes a name for himself by producing handmade men’s hats made of felt.
1858
Leonhard Mayser leaves a sizeable company to his son Friedrich (1808-1887). Friedrich Mayser and his son Fritz (1840-1907) become key figures in industrialization in Ulm. They develop their own businesses, they help finance other companies and they introduce machine manufacturing.
1886
The constant growth requires greater financial flexibility for future activities. The hat factory F. Mayser & Sohn is converted into Mayser AG - and is now one of the largest stock corporations in the country.
1903
Fritz Mayser was an influential local politician and also represented Ulm for several periods in the state parliament in Stuttgart. Between 1901 and 1903 he had a new building built in Ulm, "Auf der unteren Bleiche", equipped with all the latest technical advances, in which Carl Mayser (1871-1956), the expert highly regarded at home and abroad, took over the management of the joint-stock company one year before his father's death.
1914
The Munich hat manufacturer Anton Seidl acquires a stake in Mayser AG. In the process, the company is converted into a GmbH. Carl Mayser and Anton Seidl become equal shareholders.
1918
Anton Seidl becomes the sole owner of the Mayser company. He continues to expand the company in the coming years.
1924
Under Anton Seidl, Mayser expanded its product range and now also produced women's hats. With this important step, the company doubled production and was able to establish itself further. The name Mayser stands for high-quality women's and men's hats. In order to protect the brand, it was registered with the patent office in Berlin.
1929
Anton Seidl acquires the straw hat factory J. Milz & Cie., founded in 1833 in Lindenberg in Allgäu, and thus takes another big step in the company's history. With the takeover of the company, Mayser also produces straw hats from now on.
1940
After the death of Anton Seidl, his son-in-law Curt M. Zechbauer from Munich took over the management of the company. With the change in management, the company was converted into a general partnership.
1950
The years of the economic miracle brought great success to the Mayser company: “People started wearing hats again.”
1963
Record production at Mayser: The company produces around 3.5 million hats. The best result ever achieved in the company's history! And the high point of all German hat production.
1969
Peter M. Zechbauer, son of Curt M. Zechbauer, takes over the company. One of his first business decisions: he introduces the production of fabric headgear in Lindenberg. In addition to headgear, other products are also manufactured in Lindenberg, based on the experience gained in making hats.
1991
Due to the company's reorientation, Peter M. Zechbauer is concentrating hat production in Lindenberg. Of the 34 hat factories that once existed, Mayser is the only one that still produces headwear in what was once the "Little Paris" of hat fashion.
2011
Mayser is moving the entire production of headwear to the Mayser-Rožňava plant (Slovakia), which was founded in 2002. Design, sales and purchasing will remain in Lindenberg. What is special is that Mayser is building the factory in Slovakia itself and is also training the staff.
Today
Sales in 44 countries, 350,000 headwear items and 2 collections with 200 models each per year - this makes Mayser one of the leading headwear companies worldwide. In addition to the traditional Mayser collection, Michael Zechbauer, son of Peter M. Zechbauer, developed the "Michael Zechbauer - Style for men by Mayser" collection.
