Faber-Castell

Faber Castell, one of the leading pencil producers worldwide, looks back on a more than 250 year-old company history. In 1660, a few pencil makers were settled in the city of Nuremberg. One of them is carpenter  Kaspar Faber.

Years later his son Anton Wilhelm acquires land with a producing facility near Stein, from where he is able to transform his father’s artisanship into a prosperous manufacture. To this day, Faber-Castell is headquartered there.

In the 19th century, the production facilities are modernised and internationalised: investment in a graphite mine in Siberia secures the company an outstanding competitive edge. Betting on the importance of exclusive presentation, Lothar von Faber systematically and individually labels them „A.W. Faber“ – and that is how the first brand-pencil was born.

Faber-Castell is also visionary on the social institutions that will soon become common place: its employees have access to a company kindergarten and health insurance – the oldest one in Bavaria.

Today, Anton Wolfgang Earl of Faber-Castell, representing 8th generation of the family, leads the empire, a flagship of Bavaria’s Mittelstand.

In 2014 , the NY Times featured a short video about Faber-Castell.

More about the group’s history.