Today, Kraus & Naimer employs some 1100 people worldwide and manufactures around 4.3 Million switches per annum. The world's smallest cam switch has been designed according to the motto "We made it better, now let's make it even better".

Together with our partners, Kraus & Naimer is working on cam switches and switch disconnectors with IDC and spring clamp terminal technology.

Kraus & Naimer's global leadership is based on our products delivering the highest possible technical standard, uncompromising quality and our international presence. Qualified engineering and customer support consultancy, local stock and on-site assembly facilities guarantee quick and competent service.

Between 1968 and 1970 an additional production facility was built in Weikersdorf, some 40 miles south of Vienna, and in 1989/1990 a state-of-the-art assembly facility was added there.

K & N SCHALTER GMBH,
Karlsruhe, Germany, est'd 1962

KRAUS & NAIMER (Ireland) Limited,
Shannon, Ireland, est'd 1973

KRAUS & NAIMER (N. Z.) Limited,
Wellington, New Zealand, est'd 1978

KRAUS & NAIMER do Brasil Ltda.,
São Paulo, Brazil, est'd 1979

KRAUS & NAIMER Corporation of America, Somerset,
NJ, U.S.A., est'd 1981

KRAUS & NAIMER GmbH Magyarországi Fióktelepe,
Pereszteg, Ungarn, est'd 2000

Kraus & Naimer was founded in 1907, the first workshop being set up in the basement of the building in Wattgasse 53, Vienna. Electricity had just started to conquer the world, but switchgear as we know it today did not yet exist.

Lorenz Naimer, the founder and financier, and his partner Franz Kraus, enthusiastically launched the experiment to manufacture special electrical devices.

By the early thirties, Kraus & Naimer had grown to 50 employees. In 1945, during the last days of World War II, the factory took a bomb hit in an air-raid and was heavily damaged. Mrs. Kraus perished in the shelter of the house.

In 1946, Hubert Laurenz Naimer returned from war captivity to Vienna. A year later, after the death of his father, he had to quit his university studies in Graz to concentrate fully on rebuilding the company.

Thanks to his extraordinary abilities, the first modular cam switch was introduced shortly after and a global production and distribution network set up. After 57 years of hard and successful work, he passed away at the age of 82 on September 12, 2004.

Kraus & Naimer has pioneered many new developments. By the end of the twenties, we had already started to use the new material "Bakelite". The new "Bakelite switch" became known and accepted in the industry.

Modern tooling machines were bought in difficult economic and political situations.

The first modularly designed cam switch was introduced as early as 1949 and revolutionized switchgear technology, its characteristics influencing all subsequent designs.

Over the years, Kraus & Naimer has evolved as the undisputed market leader for cam switches and has established the standards for switch disconnectors. Based on numerous patents, the existing product line encompasses the global market place and offers technically and economically optimized solutions for virtually every application imaginable.