Hilge

"Our customers should gain a competitive edge in their markets and derive long-term benefits from the solutions we provide."

On September 3, 1862 the master founder, Peter Hilge, who lived in the old city centre of Mainz, in No. 4 Strickergasse, transformed a former laundry room into a small foundry. His first products were taps, fittings and screw necks for the local vineyards. As early as 1865 Hilge, a certified master founder, built the world's first wine pump, the "Rheinisch Cirkularpumpe". This pump was equipped specifically for the wine industry, including forward and reverse drive to empty the lines. The first wine pump was also the world's first beverage pump. So it was only logical that the shop in Strickergasse was the birthplace of one of the first beer pressure regulators in 1875.

The first manual beer pressure regulator, which Peter Hilge later equipped with a pressurized kettle and air compressor, was in reality still a genuine pressure regulator for the beer which drew the beer and acted as a governor in the true sense of the word. It was 1924 when HILGE presented the first centrifugal beer pressure regulator, replacing the then current positive displacement pump, which had a thrusting action, with a centrifugal pump which was largely pulse-free. It took less than 50 years to proceed from the first 0 - 100 % controlable beer pressure regulator in the Universa series in 1951, to today's stainless steel centrifugal pump with integral frequency converter, which, with remote field bus systems, is the communicative component in the whole system.

The unique pumps manufactured from rolled stainless steel in the HYGIA series in 1962 was a milestone in the development of pumps made of deep drawn rolled stainless steel, a philosophy which today still attracts its imitators all over the world. A philosophy which HILGE has enhanced by the use of heavy duty rolled stainless steel and robotic welding. Today, HILGE is devoting more attention than ever to industrial electronics and variable speed pump drives. Pioneering spirit and daring were always the driving forces behind HILGE and pumps from Mainz have been a synonym for brewery pumps for more than 50 years.

Today, pumps made of heavy duty rolled stainless steel are used not only in breweries, dairies and the food processing industry, but also in applications involving surface treatment, textiles and specialized processes required by environmental engineering. Sensitive pharmaceuticals and biochemicals in particular require, along with the right design, a strong resistance to corrosion and the critically important pore-free surfaces of stainless steel, decisive for product contact. HILGE has always given the highest priority to meeting the requirements set for innovative industries and to occupying market niches which demand high quality standards.