Pfaff
{{Short description|German sewing machine manufacturer}}
{{For|the surname|Pfaff (surname)}}
{{Expand German|Pfaff (Unternehmen)|date=December 2010}}
{{Infobox company
| name = MAX PFAFF Industrial
| logo = Logo PFAFF Industrial.svg
| founder = Georg Max Pfaff
| key_people = {{ubl|Min Zhang (chairman)|Cornelia Mast (CEO)}}
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees = 180 (2014)
| parent = SGSB Co. Ltd
| founded = {{sda|1862}} as PFAFF, Kaiserslautern, Germany
| location = Kaiserslautern, Germany
| homepage = {{URL|www.pfaff-industrial.com/en}}
}}
PFAFF ({{langx|de|PFAFF Industriesysteme und Maschinen AG, PFAFF Industrial}}) is a German manufacturer of sewing machines and is now owned by the SGSB Co. Ltd.{{Cite web |title=SGSB Group |url=https://www.sgsbgroup.com/ |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=www.sgsbgroup.com}}
History
PFAFF was founded in Kaiserslautern, Germany, in 1862 by instrument maker Georg Michael Pfaff (1823–1893). Pfaff's first machine was handmade, and designed to sew leather in the manufacture of shoes.
In 1885, Georg Michael Pfaff opened a sewing machine shop in London. The PFAFF factory was expanded and modernized. Georg Pfaff, the second son of the founder, took over the management of the company after his father's death in 1893 and expanded it further with great success.{{cite web |url=http://www.performancesewing.com/history/ |title=The history of Pfaff extends over 150 years |publisher=PFAFF Sewing Machines |access-date=8 December 2014}} The founder's firstborn son, Jacob Pfaff, died in 1889. His daughter, Lina Pfaff, took over the company in 1917 when her brother Georg died and ran it successfully on a global scale until 1926. Her nephew, Karl Pfaff, took over the company when she retired at the age of seventy-two.{{cite web |title=LINA PFAFF: A DEDICATED ENTREPRENEUR |url=https://www.archion.de/en/news/newsletter/already-discovered-lina-pfaff/ |website=Archion |publisher=Archion |access-date=11 January 2021}}
It made its one-millionth machine in 1910. Pfaff was bought by Husqvarna Viking in 1999. {{cite web |last1=James |first1=V. |title=Vintage Pfaff History: When Was My Pfaff Sewing Machine Made? |url=https://sewingiscool.com/when-was-my-pfaff-sewing-machine-made/ |website=Sewing is Cool |publisher=Sewing is Cool}}
In 2006, the American equity firm Kohlberg & Company, owner of Singer, acquired Swedish VSM Group, owner of Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF, thereby creating SVP Worldwide.{{cite web |url=http://www.svpworldwide.com/276.htm |title=PFAFF® SEWING MACHINE BRAND CELEBRATES 145 YEAR ANNIVERSARY |date=3 December 2007 |publisher=SVP Worldwide |access-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213173338/http://www.svpworldwide.com/276.htm |archive-date=13 December 2014 }}
In March 2013, the German holding company of SGSB Group Co. Ltd., ShangGong (Europe) Holding Corp. GmbH, took over 100% of the shares of PFAFF Industriesysteme und Maschinen AG.{{cite web |url=https://www.duerkopp-adler.com/en/main/news/news/item_0063.html |title=ShangGong (Europe) Holding Corp. GmbH took over 100% of the shares of PFAFF Industriesysteme und Maschinen AG in Kaiserslautern |date=9 April 2013 |publisher=Dürrkopp Adler |access-date=8 December 2014}}
File:Pfaff Pedal-Nähmaschine 30er Jahre.JPG|A PFAFF treadle sewing machine
File:Pfaff portable sewing machine.JPG|Pfaff portable sewing machine
File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F001162-0004, Köln, Textilfabrik Bierbaum-Proenen.jpg|Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F001162-0004, Köln, Cologne Bierbaum-Proenen textile factory; this buttonhole machine works collar buttonholes.
File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0006510 012 Besucher bei der Vorführung einer Textilmaschine der Firma Pfaff auf der Technis.jpg|Visitors at the demonstration of a Pfaff textile machine at the 1953 Technical Fair
File:Freunde-von-Freunden-Qwstion-Company-Profile-Zurich.jpg|Woman using a Pfaff machine to create a bag
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Sewing}}
Category:Manufacturing companies of Germany
Category:Sewing machine brands
Category:Companies based in Rhineland-Palatinate
Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1862
Category:1862 establishments in Bavaria
Category:German companies established in 1862
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