This concern came into existence in 1907 through the merger of Taifun Ventilatoren AG, a manufacturer of industrial ventilation equipment, and Panzer AG, who manufactured safes, steel furniture and other metal goods. In the years before the Great War the firm specialised in the manufacture of ventilation fans for use aboard ships of the Imperial Navy and for many vessels constructed for German merchant shipping firms, as well as users abroad. These fans were well known for their reliability and their quiet operation. In 1923 operations were moved to new and larger facilities in Berlin-Reinickendorf, where the product line expanded to include axial and radial fans, ventilation fans for industrial and marine applications, household cooling fans, air heaters, climate-control cabinets, drying cabinets, steel furniture and vending machines of various sorts. A branch factory was organised in Seifhennersdorf, and completed in 1936. The firm presently employs more than one thousand workers, of whom more than three hundred are employed at Seifhennersdorf.