Robbed of cash by the 1948 currency reform, STIHL has to dismiss employees for the first time ever. On 24 February 1950, Andreas Stihl applies for a settlement to prepare his company for the future.
1950 - 1959
Company history
With 215 employees, staff levels at STIHL are at their lowest since the currency reform. But from now on, the number of employees starts to increase steadily.
The newly established German Federal Armed Forces put their trust in STIHL, equipping their pioneers with the new BLK petrol-powered chainsaw.
The STIHL plant choir is founded, bringing a company tradition established in 1935 back to life.
Eva Stihl, daughter of the founder Andreas Stihl, joins the company. She is Deputy Chairperson of the Executive Board and the member in charge of Finance, Controlling and IT until 2002. A year later, her brother Hans Peter Stihl joins the company as Executive Assistant. Soon he and his sister will manage the business.
With the first edition of the customer magazine “Holz und Motor” (Wood and Engine) in July 1959 – circulation over 100,000! – STIHL starts to inform the company’s numerous fans of the latest developments in chainsaw technology and the many fields of application for modern tools.
Product history
The first single-person petrol-powered chainsaw (16 kg) that can also make a horizontal cut is equipped with a manually adjustable swivelling carburettor. This allows the saw to be used for cutting as well as for felling.
An add-on kit transforms the BL chainsaw into a plant hole auger. STIHL begins the promising expansion of its product range in the field of portable motorised equipment.
The first truly lightweight saw weighs 11 kg and is designated as the BLK: “Benzin - Leicht - Klein” (petrol - lightweight - small).
The brush cutter (“Dachs”), clearing saw (“Marder”) and thinning saw (“Biber”) attachments, the post and plant hole auger and the suction and pressure pump significantly expand the range of applications for chainsaws.
The position-independent (“aviator”) carburettor finally makes it possible to use the chainsaw in all working positions, to fell and cut logs to length, for example, without having to manually swivel the carburettor first.
The Contra petrol-powered chainsaw (6 hp, 12 kg) is the first gearless STIHL chainsaw. Equipped with numerous other innovations, such as improved chain lubrication and a reinforced guide bar as well new sound suppressors, the Contra marks the dawn of a new technological era for forestry and forest operations.