Businessman Franz Doepke and engineer August-Wilhelm Engels found Doepke in Norden (East Frisia). They carry out pioneering work in the field of residual current protection technology by developing, producing and selling the first residual current circuit-breakers. It is a difficult business at first, as RCCBs are barely heard of and not mandatory in the 1950s

Doepke moves for the first time from the centrally located Große Mühlenstraße to a former school in the Süderneuland district.

Following in his father’s footsteps: Wilhelm Engels’ son takes over from his father at the company.

The company moves again to another part of Norden. For the next six years, its headquarters are in Doornkatlohne.

Another managerial change occurs. Joachim Hagemann takes charge of domestic sales. In the same year, the company moves to a new building in the Leegemoor commercial district. Stellmacherstraße has been Doepke’s home since then. The management team expands the year after. Manfred Schmidt takes responsibility for technology and product and process development.

The company takes a major step in its international expansion: the subsidiary Doepke UK is founded in England. UK sales are bundled at the Daventry site, and consumer units are manufactured there too. Ten employees work at the Daventry site.

The end of an era: Mr Engels Junior, who was Head of Production until then, leaves the company.

Barely four years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new branch opens: 1993 Doepke opens a new plant in Bickenriede in Thuringia. Fifteen employees manufacture miniature circuit-breakers and assemblies here.

Another change takes place in the senior management: Manfred Schmidt takes charge of Technology and Development, while Joachim Hagemann becomes Head of Sales. They are supported by a three-person advisory board.

A sad year for Doepke. One of its founding fathers, Franz Doepke, dies at the age of 74

The next year, 1999, Doepke takes another step in its international expansion: Doepke International Dubai is founded.

Doepke expands its site in the Leegemoor commercial district. The company buys a building in Blaufärberstraße, diagonally opposite the main building, and sets up its sales departments and a training area in it. The building is extended in 2013.

Andreas Müller and Heinz-Erhard Weeken join the management team. They form a new management trio along with Manfred Schmidt. Joachim Hagemann, the Head of Sales until then, takes a well-deserved retirement.

Doepke grows. Not just from 25 employees in its early years to approx. 200 today, but also in terms of its footprint: 2011 A new production building on Seilerstraße is added to the company’s premises in Norden’s commercial district, Leegemoor.

In the year of Doepke’s 60th anniversary, the main building on Stellmacherstraße is renovated and extended.

Doepke gets a new look: to make it commercially fit for the future, Doepke modernises its brand image. With new colours, a new website and social media presence, the company now has an even closer relationship with its customers and partners. The plot of the former Nordfunk building is taken over.

Takeover of the former Elektro Daniels premises, takeover of ABL’s entire miniature circuit-breaker production. Takeover of the former SKN halls; the number of employees increases to more than 230 by the end of April.