Karl Friedrich Gegauf, founder of the company and inventor of the hemstitch machine (1893), had probably not even in his wildest dreams imagined that his invention would be the cornerstone for the success of an entire family, a famous brand name and a business operating worldwide. His son Fritz Gegauf, a passionate design engineer and salesman, trumped the Europe-wide success of his father by marketing the first home sewing machine bearing the BERNINA brand name in 1932 and the world’s first portable zigzag sewing machine in 1945. In addition, he amazed the sewing industry time and again with new innovations and patents, such as the quintessentially-BERNINA snap-on presser foot.
In 1965 Odette Ueltschi-Gegauf, Fritz Gegauf’s daughter, took over the management of Fritz Gegauf Aktiengesellschaft, BERNINA Nähmaschinenfabrik, as the business was called in those days. Her customer-oriented philosophy made a substantial mark on the BERNINA brand name. Under her direction, not only was the company’s marketing department built up step-by-step, but – as a result of the particular importance she placed on the ease of use and convenient handling of BERNINA products – the first fully electronic BERNINA 1130 sewing machine as well as the bernette model range were launched on the market.
Since 1988 the fourth generation of the family has stood at the helm of the company, in the person of Hanspeter Ueltschi. When he took over the business, not only was it his declared aim to make sewing more popular worldwide and to encourage customer creativity; rather, he was also determined to drive down product manufacturing costs whilst simultaneously promoting company innovations and marketing. Consequently, he ushered the business into the computer age with BERNINA’s first sewing computer, the artista 180, and ensured the constant development and optimization of computer technology in the sewing industry, as shown by the successive artista models as well as the aurora range. In addition to the parent plant in Steckborn, Hanspeter Ueltschi set up a further branch office in Thailand and established the USA as a successful key market, destination of over 50% of all BERNINA exports. Today, the development and expansion of the new markets in Eastern Europe and Russia, South America and India, as well as the Middle East are top priorities. Taking account of the trend towards internationalization and the fame of its own brand name, Fritz Gegauf AG was renamed BERNINA International AG under the aegis of Hanspeter Ueltschi in 2006. Being acutely aware of the Swiss tradition of the company and the uniquely Swiss qualities of BERNINA products, Hanspeter Ueltschi decided at the same time to nail his colours to the mast and incorporate the Swiss flag in the company logo. |
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