The origins of this firm – the largest manufacturer of fasteners and builders’ hardware in Germany – lies with the foundation in 1832 of the rivet and nail-making workshop of Carl Wilhelm von Brevillier in Florisdorf near Vienna. At first supplying the growing Austrian textile industry with fasteners, the firm quickly expanded into the manufacture of machine-cut screws, using machinery imported from England. In 1877 the Brevillier firm merged with that of Urban und Söhne, another Viennese factory producing fasteners, to form the largest such combine in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It continued to expand, establishing subsidiary companies throughout southeastern Europe.
The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the close of the Great War cut the company off from its former subsidiaries but financial support form the Creditanstalt allowed it to weather the storm and to regain some of its position. In 1920 the holding company Brevillier und Urban was formed to hold interests in the actual operating companies – a financial device that supported re-entry into the successor states. The firm also benefited from its acquisition of the von Schöller iron works – a large-scale manufacturer of gear-sets and axles for the construction of locomotives and railway wagons – with strong cartel connections in southeastern Europe.
With the union of the Austrian provinces the firm moved into the German market, acquiring a number of fastener plants throughout Germany – including the long established Sächsische Maschinen und Schraubenfabrik of Leipzig, which, in addition to fasteners, brought the firm into the field of manufacturing specialised machinery for the production of fasteners – bolts, nails, rivets and screws.
Subsidiaries in Germany include:
Hemersche Schrauben und Nagelfabrik AG, Hemer (wood screws, nails and other fasteners)
Neunkirchner Schraubenwerke AG, Neunkirchen (machine screws and fasteners)
Nürnberger Schraubenfabrik AG, Nürnberg (machine screws and aircraft fasteners)
Sächsische Maschinen und Schraubenfabrik AG, Leipzig (aircraft fasteners and fastener-making equipment)
Schmiedewarenfabriks Aktiengesellschaft Urban & Söhne, Wien (fasteners and other stamped products)
Schrauben und Schmiedewarenfabriks Brevillier und Compagnie, Wien (fasteners)
Ternitzer Stahl-und-Eisenwerke AG, Wien (railway equipment)
Ulmer Schraubenfabrik AG, Ulm an der Donau (machine and metal screws)
Subsidiaries abroad include:
Hungarian Machine Screw Works (Hungary) (machine screws and aircraft fasteners)
Novi Sad Bolt Factory (Yugoslavia) (fasteners and builders’ hardware)