Das Bauunternehmen Dyckerhoff & Widmann

Concrete as a building material was one of the most important innovations to emerge from the construction industry in the 19th century. Within a few decades, it rose from humble beginnings to become the “building material of the century”. The history of the concrete industry is inextricably linked with its triumphant progress. The book deals with one of the leading companies, Dyckerhoff & Widmann, founded in 1865. Its systematic experiments and skilful marketing with exhibition buildings, lectures and publications made a decisive contribution to anchoring concrete in the building industry – starting with (artistic) prefabricated elements, through structural engineering, to the representative high-rise buildings of the early 20th century. At the same time, the commercially oriented company influenced the development of construction technology. With comparatively early mechanization and rationalization of construction sites, partly based on American models, Dyckerhoff & Widmann drove forward the so-called industrialization of construction.