Congratulations to HELLA on celebrating such a huge anniversary. Here's a potted history and a cool video about headlights.
On 11 June 1899, Sally Windmüller founds the "Westfälische Metall Industrie Aktien-Gesellschaft" in Lippstadt. He sees the onset of motorisation as a future trend and growth market. The founding of Westfälische Metall Industrie Aktien-Gesellschaft (WMI) marks the official beginning of the company's history.
In 1908 the acetylene headlamp "System Hella" is added to the sales catalogue as WMI's first outstanding product innovation. "Hella" becomes a trade name that year and is also registered as a trademark in 1926. It is still not entirely clear how the name came about. It could be a reference to the Greek sun god Helios or allude to a fictitious goddess of light, as all WMI products bore a badge showing a young woman with a shining star above her head. However, the most likely - and most obvious - variant is this: company founder Sally Windmüller wanted to honour his wife. Her name was Helene, but she was known as Hella. The fact that this also creates an association with the German word for "brighter" was probably an advantage.
In 1924 The Bilux lamp was able to produce low beam and high beam light from one lamp: the pioneering innovation became the standard for decades to come
With the twin filament or Bilux lamp, WMI presents one of the most important product innovations of those years. Instead of one filament, it now has two filaments in the glass bulb and can therefore produce both low beam and high beam light from one lamp. A milestone in the development of lighting technology - and subsequently the industry standard for many decades.
On 27 August 1957, WMI is the first company to receive type approval for a headlamp with asymmetrical light distribution. This technology suddenly increases safety in road traffic at night, not only by improving visibility on your own side of the road, but also by reducing glare for oncoming traffic.
HELLA grows again after the end of the Second World War. Together with the economic recovery in Germany, the number of employees increases from 450 in 1945 to 1,500 within three years. In 1961 HELLA builds its first factory abroad, in Australia. This is the beginning of internationalization. Today HELLA is present with over 125 locations in around 35 countries and generates over 40 percent of its sales in markets outside of Europe.
The HELLA plum is put on the roof - WMI becomes "Hella KG Hueck & Co." on 1 June 1986. According to a letter to customers and business partners, the move is intended to recognise the increasing importance of the Hella product brand. At the time, it had already been established on the market for around 80 years. Almost 17 years later, in 2003, the company is converted into a partnership limited by shares (KGaA) and thus into a corporation. The new legal form creates the option of opening up to the capital market - which will be utilised eleven years later, in 2014.
115 years after the company was founded, HELLA ventures onto the stock market. The HELLA share is traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the first time on 11 November 2014, with a starting price of € 27.50. The official start of trading was preceded by a two-stage private placement with institutional investors and family offices. Less than a year later, on 21 September 2015, the share is admitted to the MDAX where it is still listed today.
There are some great videos on the HELLA YouTube channel worth checking out.