After spending several years travelling, the 26-year-old brass founder Johannes Erhard sets up his own business in his home town of Heidenheim. His workshop at Wedelgraben produces all kinds of goods made of metal and brass, which Erhard himself packs into a rucksack and sells in the surrounding towns.

ERHARD's business model takes shape: water works and water pipes are being built all over the Württemberg region, meaning that valves and taps are also needed. The company already has over 20 employees, Johannes Erhard is expanding and acquiring new equipment, including a 2 hp gas engine.

Johannes Erhard and his wife Christiane have no children. They take on Christiane's nephew Josef Waldenmaier, who takes over the running of the company in 1904. Under his management, ERHARD transforms from a trades firm to an industrial company. In 1913, the location in Meeboldstraße is built.

ERHARD now has more than 400 employees and it can get quite hectic in the production department. Nevertheless, Josef Waldenmaier continues to subscribe to the quiet and modest manner of the company founder and is close to his employees. They say about him: "He talks like me, he eats like me, he complains like me"

Josef Waldenmaier's son Erhard takes over the company after his father's death. It is a challenging legacy: ERHARD is heavily impacted by the world economic crisis of the previous years, and in Germany the National Socialists are now in power. ERHARD is incorporated into the system of forced labourers and arms production.

The end of the Second World War is a difficult new start for ERHARD. The firm needed to shift from wartime to peacetime production operations. At the same time, the company wants to re-establish its international connections made before the Nazi era. The turnaround is a success: ERHARD is soon once again exporting its valves all over the world and even has exclusive supply contracts with the USSR.

Foundry workers in swimming trunks – construction of the new plant in Oettingen begins in 1960, equipped with a new foundry and a fully automatic machine line. ERHARD also builds a new swimming pool next to the factory site, which is available to all Oettingen residents.

In addition to expanding production facilities and sites, ERHARD also provides the leisure activities for its employees. There are various sports groups, an aikido course and even an Erhard riding group.

The death of Heinz Waldenmaier marks the next change of generation: Ingrid Waldenmaier takes over the firm. At the same time, the company struggles with a fluctuating economy in the coming years. However, this does not prevent ERHARD from constantly devising new custom designs for its customers in its own testing facility.

After the opening of the Eastern Bloc, international competition increases and sales markets disappear. During this period, the entire industry is in upheaval. At the end of 1998, a new conglomerate of the largest manufacturers in the valves industry, Deutsche Armaturen AG is formed under Mannesmann AG, including ERHARD.

Deutsche Armaturen AG and thus also ERHARD join forces with TYCO Waterworks EMEA. ERHARD expands its factory in Heidenheim with a modern production hall.

ERHARD receives its second largest order in the company's history with the water supply project in Ankara.

The "door-to-door sales" of Johannes Erhard's early days is long gone. However, direct exchange with partners and customers is still just as important for ERHARD, and the company attends numerous trade fairs.

Formation of TALIS in Heidenheim, including ERHARD: The new company is also guided by the values that have been followed at ERHARD for over 100 years. The ERHARD team continues to produce high-quality valves and export them to the rest of the world.

ERHARD celebrates its 150th anniversary. What began with a small workshop on Wedelgraben has become an international company with 200 employees. ERHARD has experienced many ups and downs, but the constant factor in this history is above all the employees whom the company can always count on.