since 1997
The PREUSS brand
In 1997, Frauke’s children Daniel and Jan caught the entrepreneurial bug. They found the Preuss company. Daniel left the company in 2008 and Jan has been running it alone ever since. In 2018, he took up the family history and renamed the company Ruwowerk. The Preuss name continues to exist as a brand in the premium segment.
1953-1996
No active business of the entrepreneurial family
Gerda moves to Kreuzkapelle with her four children in 1953. In 1959, she moved to Augsburg, where she died in 2003 at the age of 92.
Her daughter Frauke married the engineer Reinhard Preuss and moved to Berlin in 1968. They have four children together, Christiane, Daniel, Jan and Philipp.
The former company premises at Müllerstrasse 13-14 were sold in 1980.
1865 - 1952
RUWOWERK
Rudolf Wolter founded the RUWO machine factory at Müllerstraße 13-14 in Berlin in 1865. Initially, parts for photographic equipment were manufactured, and later mining machines and valves for locomotives. Rudolf was a gifted engineer.
In 1904, his son Maximilian Wolter took over the factory. This was followed by the production of keyway milling machines, centrifugal pumps and piston pumps. Various patents were issued in the following years. In March 1920, Maximilian bought the Altenmühle estate with the adjoining land and moved the factory there. From then on, the company was called RUWOWERK. The approximately 50-hectare site with the stately villa, the production buildings and the mill was ideal for production.
Maximilian later handed over the estate to his son-in-law Albert Olufs (his father was born von Husen) and his daughter Gerda Olufs born Wolter left the factory and moved back to Berlin. The company now employs more than 100 people.
Due to the currency reform in 1948 and Albert's premature death, the factory went downhill. Production ceased in 1952 and the estate was sold.