HISTORY


1859	Establishment of the company in Nagasaki by the German merchants L. Kniffler and H. M. Gildemeister.

1861	Conclusion of trading contract between Prussia and Japan; 1868: opening of Japan to the West during Meiji Restoration; establishing of offices in Osaka, Kobe and Yokohama.

1880	Takeover of the company by Carl Illies sen. under the firm C. Illies & Co. Yokohama-Kobe-Osaka

1887	Opening of the branch office in Tokyo under management of Carl Illies jun.; 1888: headquarter of ILLIES moves to Hamburg.

1918	Rebuilding of ILLIES in Japan and Germany after WWI; establishing of branches in Dairen, Mukden, Hsingking, Beijing and Manila.

1947	Rebuilding of ILLIES in Hamburg, Berlin and East Asia after WWII under management of Carl Jürgen Illies, Carl Illies junior’s son..


	1905, Yokohama 3 generations of the Illies family		1923: C. Illies jun. on Miyajima island near Hiroshima.


1957	Establishment of an affiliated company in Seoul and in 1958, a branch office in Saigon.

1967 until 1974	Establishment of affiliated companies in Taipei, Manila, Hong Kong and Chicago under the management of Carl-Heinz Illies, Carl Jürgen Illies’s son.

1975	Development of activities in the Middle East, mainly in Saudi Arabia in the field of engineering and plant business.

1978	Acquisition of the Erex Group with offices in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Harare.

1982	Establishment of an extensive network in China, running offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and liaison offices in Harbin, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu and Xiamen; establishing of a specialised technical service centre in Shanghai.

1988	Establishment of an office in Vicenza, Italy.

1991	Reopening of offices in Vietnam during Doi Moi (renewal) process.

1995	ILLIES is managed by André Piédavent, Rolf Strerath and Carl Michael Illies, Carl Heinz Illies’s son.

2003	Start of activities in Kazakhstan and Russia; focus on the agro-industrial and food processing industries as well as the building sector.

2005	Appointment of Dr Frank Oberndorff as Managing Director of ILLIES.

2006	Establishment of an affiliated company in India; start of activities in Uzbekistan.

2007	Establishment of a representative office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

2009	Under the management of C. Michael Illies and Dr Frank Oberndorff, ILLIES is the oldest foreign company still existing in Japan celebrating its 150th company anniversary.