In 1879 the company Haacke was founded in the Lower Saxon Celle by Senator Albert Haacke. The decisive impulse for this came through Watt’s invention of the steam machine and later by Borsig’s cooling technology. This innovations made the use of insulation materials necessary. From then on, the company was concerned with the development, production and the processing of such materials. Back then kieselguhr and cork were used. Since the industrial revolution was especially strong in England, for a period of time the company headquarters even moved to London. In addition on the European continent there was a network of branch offices, as far as Königsberg.

As early as 1896, the company from Celle produced cork insulation products for the construction of buildings. Haacke developed into a leading provider and received a gold medal at the trade fair in Leipzig on 11 July 1909 for their insulation against heat, cold and sound. After the Second World War, the natural materials began to be replaced by glass fibres and mineral wool and as of 1950 then through polystyrene hard foam. Eight years later, Wolfgang Haacke registered an ‘Algoramik®’ with insulating clinkers for a patent. The specially developed element was based on a force-fit connection of clinkers and Styropor, it is free from any glues and is screwed onto the façade. In the workshop, the era of industrial prefabrication began.

It’s no wonder that the young and committed company owner looked for possibilities to comprehensively market the quality product. At this time in Germany there was talk about the idea of a revolutionary prefabricated house. In Celle, they were excited about the principle of the prefabrication of a whole house. It was a matter of course that they should select the wooden plate construction, which was oriented on the construction principle of the timbered houses in Celle.

The beginnings of prefabricated construction with Haacke date back to 1959. Without today’s marketing professionals, back then they began to look around for sales markets away from the factory. The birth hour of the modern timbered houses with wooden frame construction had tolled, because this decision simultaneously made possible the use of the own façade elements. The guiding theme also made sense: affordable construction which at the same time was typical for the region through industrial prefabrication and with a constantly high quality. Three years later, the company from Celle presented such a home for the first time, the breakthrough in the market had begun. Step by step the company that was now Haacke Haus climbed the ladder to become the market leader in the construction of timbered houses.

In 1979, the company opened its own show house park at the Celle site – still today an attractive showcase of Haacke’s art of building houses.

With the motto “back to the roots”, after the fall of communism in 1990, they bethought of earlier locations, namely the market in middle Germany. In 1992, in Neu Plötzin in Brandenburg ground was broken for a second plant. The company invested 20 million marks there in a modern production plant and a second show house park.

In the year 1998, the entire program experienced a new enrichment with the “natural house”, virtually the ecological crowning of a tradition. The core of it all is the diffusion-open double wall, enriched with natural insulation and free from chemicals. Thus the provider from Celle prepared for the growing flock of builders who place a great deal of value on healthy living. Haacke also now attracts everyone who has a weakness for wooden façades.

Part of the prefabricated house program is still the highly heat insulating clinker elements. In the new building and in the growing sanitation market, they ensure lower energy costs, attractive and enduring façades. Part of the product range is also the “Cellco heat protection”, a unique product which is used during the renovation of old and timberwork buildings. It is made of cork, clay, kieselguhr and straw. The fully natural heat protection for the inner insulation can be stomped manually or affixed with a plastering machine.

A modern architecture, stylistically composed, characterizes the draft series “city villa” which has recently been introduced to the market. As this name already says, this demanding and generous house addresses the lovers of modern practicality and the joy of aesthetics who also like to live in the cities. Various basic variations of the “city villa” have been developed. They can be one and a half or two floors. Through various façade systems, like clinkers, plaster, wood or natural stone, very distinct accents can be set in the appearance of this house. Well known technical journalists have named the Haacke City Villa to the house of the year. The modern and fresh drafts have won many fans – and experienced some bad copies. As it always is in life, it’s worth investing in the original.

Individual building, attractive architecture and modern technology don’t have to be contradictions. Haacke also proves this in the scope of the three litre result project which is being carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics in Celle. Representatively for the entire prefabricated house branch, the local company is represented with two houses. The checking by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics certifies the standard of a three litre house. The most important prerequisite for this are the highly heat insulating outside walls in which the 120 years of experience of the company in cold, heat and sound protection is proven.

For two years, the researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Construction in Stuttgart have subjected a three litre house from Haacke to a practical test. With the help of more than 100 measurement points, the calculative determined primary energy balance of the house was subject to a check. And indeed the real energy consumption clearly fell below the theoretically determined values. Thus Haacke is the world’s first and only company which has been certified after extensive examinations for reaching the requirements of the energy savings ordinance as well as the criteria of the three litre house standard in practice with their houses.

This year Haacke celebrates its 125th anniversary. In this anniversary year, all three product areas developed positively – Haacke Haus, Haacke Isolierklinker [insulating clinker] and Haacke Cellco – in spite of a difficult market environment. The serious appearance on the market, safety and reliability for the customers and the innovativeness of the company have allowed Haacke to reach this age which is rare in the construction industry. These virtues are the basis of future successes.

The company employs some 300 employees at the headquarters in Celle and in the plant in Potsdam / Neu Plötzin. Currently 10 percent of the employees are trained in the professions of industrial clerk, IT clerk, bachelor of business administration, draftsman and carpenter.

Haacke is awarded the great German prefabricated house prize, the “Golden Cube” 2005. An independent jury with well-known architects and internationally renowned building physicists dignify the City Villa from Haacke due to its unique architecture, the ecological value preservation, the energetic concept and the well balanced price-performance ratio.