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History

From 1869 to today: innovative strength and tradition.

Hotel Sacher in Vienna (1874) © PORR

The beginnings of PORR.

Today's PORR Group started its business activities as "Allgemeine österreichische Baugesellschaft" on 16 March 1869.

Its shares were first listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange on 8 April 1869. One of the first orders was the extension of the horse-drawn railway from Linz to Budweis. In 1870, one third of the line was completed. And further orders followed, mainly in Vienna, later also in other parts of the Danube Monarchy.

In 1873-1874 the house on the corner of Albertinaplatz and Philharmonikerstrasse in Vienna's 1st district was built. Eduard Sacher acquired this building two years later in order to open his luxury hotel there.

Arthur Porr (1908) © PORR

Concrete pioneer Arthur Porr.

Since rapid progress was being made in the field of reinforced concrete construction at the turn of the century, it was obvious to win over the most important expert. In 1908, a new company was founded with the civil engineer Arthur Porr: the A. Porr Betonbau-Unternehmung.

Arthur Porr was one of the world's leading engineers and construction pioneers of his time. He revolutionised reinforced concrete construction and made Austria the leading country in construction technology

Construction of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road (1930) © PORR

On to new horizons.

After the First World War, the residential construction sector came to a virtual standstill. But there is no stopping the pioneering spirit: PORR erected numerous support and guyed masts in often inhospitable and difficult-to-access areas. To this day, these so-called PORR masts supply remote areas of Austria with electricity.

On 31 December 1927, Allgemeine Baugesellschaft merged with A. Porr Betonbau-Unternehmung: the "Allgemeine Baugesellschaft - A. Porr Aktiengesellschaft" was founded.

From 1930 onwards, the construction of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road was a construction project of superlatives, with work in largely undeveloped territory at an altitude of up to 2,600 metres.

Construction of the Tauern power plant Glockner-Kaprun (1951-1955) © PORR

Accents after 1945.

After the Second World War, PORR was intensively involved in the reconstruction of Austria - under difficult conditions.

During this time, the company was entrusted with, among other things, the expansion of the Mariazell federal roads across Lower Austria. Prestigious buildings such as the Vienna State Opera also had to be rebuilt. In this way PORR actively contributed to leading Austria into a new and successful future. The Ringturm in Vienna, built between 1953 and 1955, was the second tallest building in Vienna for some time due to its sensational 21 storeys. PORR subsequently proved to be a literal bridge builder: a bridge for the Brenner motorway was built at a dizzying height at Bergisel near Innsbruck. To this day, numerous PORR structures are central sections of this important north-south axis. The 1960s were marked by the implementation of numerous large general contractor projects, in particular the construction of office and commercial buildings.

And work also began on a series of projects to use the Danube as an energy source, in which PORR was to play a major role until the mid1990s. The construction of the bbs-Persenbeug power plants saw the first use of spectacular excavation technology. In order to make the construction pits watertight, planks were driven into the riverbed for weeks before the actual work could begin German The construction of the Tauern power plant Glockner-Kaprun from 1951 to 1955 was to be the first in a series of renowned power plant projects.

PORR becomes international.

At the beginning of the 1970s, PORR had already been a proud co-shaper of Austria for more than 100 years. In this century the company has acquired great expertise in virtually all areas of the construction industry: Industrial and housing structures, tunnels, pipelines, roads, underground car parks, railway lines, power plants. The New Austrian Tunnelling Method is revolutionising civil engineering worldwide. Ready-mixed concrete is increasingly used in cities, and PORR is also involved in the development of new road surfaces.

From 1973 PORR is involved in the construction of the Vienna underground network. This extraordinary construction project requires state-of-the-art technologies, enormous precision and the best engineers in the country.

From 1980 PORR is also in Germany.

1980
PORR receives its first tunnelling orders in Germany from Deutsche Bahn. 
 
1990
PORR gradually takes over Radmer Bau AG in Munich, founded in 1948.
 
2002
Radmer Bau AG is renamed PORR Aktiengesellschaft, Munich and fully integrated into the organisation of Allgemeine Baugesellschaft - A. Porr AG in Vienna. 
 
2006
Change of name of the German PORR AG based in Munich to PORR Deutschland GmbH. 
 
2013
PORR Deutschland GmbH takes over Stump Spezialtiefbau GmbH 
 
2014
PORR spins off the real estate sector and becomes a pure construction company 
 
2015
The head office in Munich moves into the new office building in Parkstadt Schwabing 
 
2017
PORR Deutschland GmbH takes over Franki Grundbau GmbH & Co. KG in Seevetal, Bilfinger Berger Government Service GmbH (BBGS) in Kaiserlautern as well as Oevermann GmbH based in Münster.

2019
The merger of Stump Spezialtiefbau and FRANKI Grundbau created Stump-Franki Spezialtiefbau GmbH in April 2019.

2022
PORR GmbH & Co. KGaA takes over C+P Stahl- und Systembau GmbH & Co. KG in Zahna-Elster and founds PORR Stahl- und Systembau GmbH. 

2024
Since the beginning of the year, the subsidiary companies Oevermann, Radmer Kies as well as Stump-Franki have been operating on the market under the PORR brand. This strengthens PORR's holistic approach as a full-service provider, offering all steps along the value chain of a construction project from a single source.

2024
PORR GmbH & Co. KGaA takes over A. Waggershauser Strassenbau GmbH & Co. KG, based in Kirchheim/Teck.