Sennheiser celebrates 75th anniversary year
Posted on: Monday 29th of June 2020
When Fritz Sennheiser founded the company in 1945, he started a venture in a small farmhouse near Hanover. Sennheiser soon discovered fast-growing business opportunities, using the knowledge and skills that he gained in his prior scientific career, responding to a high demand for measuring devices and microphones. The German firm are proud of their heritage, and have identified a series of landmarks to enumerate the years…
1945 to 1982: Foundation of the company by Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser
Fritz Sennheiser founded the Laboratorium Wennebostel (Lab W) in June 1945. At the time of its foundation, the “startup” company produced measuring instruments and sold them to Siemens. The farmhouse where the company was founded is still part of the business premises.
1982 to 2012: Internationalisation under Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser
In 1982 Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser handed over the management of the company to his son, Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser.
1988 was the starting point for the internationalisation of the family business: The first sales subsidiary, Sennheiser France, was founded. Over time, further subsidiaries were launched, and the company now has 21 subsidiaries worldwide.
1988: The HD 25 headphones enter the market. Originally conceived as professional monitoring headphones, they were also used as in-flight headphones on board Concorde, before going on to conquer DJ booths the world over. In 2013, Sennheiser marked the 25th anniversary of the HD 25, revisiting and celebrating the history of these legendary headphones.
Sennheiser took over the Berlin studio microphone manufacturer Georg Neumann in 1991, integrating its microphone production into Sennheiser’s own factory in Wennebostel.
In 1991, the Orpheus electrostatic headphones entered the market. The limited-edition model was considered the best headphones in the world for decades. In 2015, Sennheiser presented the HE 1 as the successor to the legendary Orpheus.
1998: The evolution microphone series was launched, followed by the evolution wireless microphone series in 1999.
In 2000, the MKH 800 was the first studio condenser microphone to cover the entire frequency range of the new digital audio formats with just one transducer system.
2005: Sennheiser acquired the speaker manufacturer, Klein+Hummel, integrating the “KH” series loudspeakers with the Neumann product line.
Daniel Sennheiser, grandson of the founder, joined the company in 2008. He was joined in 2010 by his brother Dr. Andreas Sennheiser. Both are shareholders of the company.
2009: Sennheiser presented the HD 800, a new high-end reference headphone.
The Digital 9000 radio microphone system was introduced in 2012. It is the only digital wireless UHF microphone system in the world that can work without data reduction.
The first model of the MOMENTUM headphone series was launched in 2012. Several wired and wireless products entered the market.
Since 2013: Dual leadership with Dr. Andreas Sennheiser and Daniel Sennheiser
In 2013, Dr. Andreas and Daniel Sennheiser took on responsibility as managing directors for Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG. They manage the company as co-CEOs with equal rights in a dual leadership without division of responsibilities. From 1996, Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser was the chair of Sennheiser’s supervisory board, a role he handed over in 2015.
In 2014, Sennheiser founded the new subsidiary “Sennheiser Streaming Technology GmbH (SST)”, which develops streaming solutions for software and hardware.
In 2016, the company presented its AMBEO 3D audio technology program, launching the AMBEO VR Mic in 2016.
As the first AMBEO product for the consumer market, the AMBEO SMART HEADSET was announced in 2017.
In 2019, the AMBEO Soundbar was launched, a product that enables a spatial sound experience in 5.1.4 format.
In 2017, Sennheiser introduced TeamConnect Ceiling, a ceiling microphone for conference rooms that automatically records the speakers in a room using dynamic beamforming technology.
The Digital 6000 wireless microphone series was launched in 2017.
2019: Sennheiser acquired a majority stake in Dear Reality, a company that specializes in spatial audio algorithms and VR/AR audio software.
Founded in 1945, the independent family company, which is managed in the third generation by Dr. Andreas Sennheiser and Daniel Sennheiser, is today one of the world’s leading manufacturers of headphones, loudspeakers, microphones and wireless transmission systems. In 2018, the Sennheiser Group generated turnover totaling €710.7 million.
