Friday, February 5, 2016

Vanished tool brands: Holz-Her Derby power tools, Nürtingen, Germany






From Canadian Workshop, April 1979.

I discovered this ad in this old magazine I picked up recently.  I'd never heard of the company or brand before.  Pity.  From what I've learned online, this company made excellent power tools.  

Mattias Reich and five colleagues formed a company in Nürtingen, Germany in 1914 to produce wire products and wire-making machinery.  In 1925, they moved into the production of electrically powered stationary woodworking tools.  They named the company after the often heard yell from German carpenters to their assistants below:  "Holz her!" meaning "send up another beam" or "more wood!"  In 1936, portable power tools were added to the range, beginning with a circular saw.  In 1964, production of stationary woodworking machines was relocated to Austria and renamed Reich-Austria.  Edge-banding machines were introduced in 1969.  TTS Tooltechnic Systems AG & Co., maker of Festo power tools, acquired the portable power tool line from Holzher in 2000.  The Holz-Her tools were redesigned under the Protool brand.  In 2010 the Holz-Her and Reich Spezialmaschinen (from Reich-Austria) were sold to the Weinig Group. 

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Festool bought them.

Mister G said...

Thanks for the info!

SomeDude said...

Hey would you happen to know when this line of tools was actually made ? Like, what year/date ?

Anonymous said...


The Derby program (2 types of circular saws, planer and belt sander) was designed for the discerning do-it-yourselfer.
It was built in the late 1970s to the mid 1980s.

Unknown said...

Hello all, do you know where i can find replacement blades for it? or the exact model number?

Mister G said...

I read that Holz-her has become Festools. https://ekat.festool.de/login3/app?__bk_&__windowid=VOJ552871874&__rid=XPV1642437583618#2VFB2144C915D47DFAD66CC73CEC1F7E17E1D29351DB45EA618EEFB7B1BB136D42B8044FCE28E6056D