Villeroy & Boch - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Villeroy & Boch is a large manufacturer of ceramics with the company headquarters located in Mettlach

Mettlach

Mettlach is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 7 km northwest of Merzig, and 30 km south of Trier.Villeroy & Boch's headquarters are in Mettlach....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

Company history

The company began in the tiny French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

village of Audun le Tiche, where François Boch

François Boch

François Boch founded a pottery in Audun-le-Tiche in Lorraine in 1748. Approximately 36 years later, Nicholas Villeroy did the same in Frauenberg. In order to compete successfully with British imports, Villeroy and Boch merged in 1836. In 1900, Villeroy & Boch employed 1,000 workers.-References:...

set up a pottery company with his three sons in 1748. Later, the company moved to nearby Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, where it operated a porcelain factory until 2010. In 1801 the company
moved to the nearby town of Mettlach

Mettlach

, Germany

Germany

. On 14 April 1836, the Jean François Boch company merged with that of a competitor, Nicolas Villeroy, and became Villeroy & Boch, V&B (also simply 'VB').

Current situation

While the company is no longer run by a family member with the present Group Chairman of Villeroy & Boch being Frank Goering, there are however various family members presently working in the company. Since 1990 the company has been listed on the German stock market

Stock market

A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...

, ticker symbol VIB3, but the voting capital is still in the hands of the family descendants. The company's Luxembourg factory was closed down in 2010.

External links

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