DORMA: A long tradition

Despite its rapid growth in the past few decades, DORMA has remained a family-owned company. The sole proprietor today is Karl- Rudolf Mankel, grandson of one of the company’s co-founders.

Rudolf Mankel and his brother-in-law Wilhelm Dörken founded Dörken & Mankel KG in Ennepetal on 1 July, 1908. The first products to come out of the factory were double-action door hinges and milled screws. Right from the start, the two partners imposed the very highest quality standards on their products. The principle that applied even at that time – "Better the best at a good price than to disappoint our customers" - was destined to influence significantly the path adopted by the company, and it has indeed remained a constant right to this very day. The brand name DORMA, an acronym formed from the two surnames of the company founders, was registered with the German Patent Office in 1927. After the upheavals of the Second World War, the company launched the TS 50 door closer, heralding a significant move in a sector into which we are today the world market leader. In 1962, DORMA began production of a range of door operators and so took its first steps into the automatics market. In 1970, Dörken & Mankel KG was renamed DORMA GmbH & Co. KG and the third generation of the family joined the company in the person of Karl-Rudolf Mankel. The ensuing period saw increased emphasis on global alignment and further extensions to the product segments. In 1976, the company moved into the field of glass door furniture and fittings, and 1977 saw the creation of a subsidiary specialising in this sector, DORMA-Glas. Also in 1977, we established our first foreign sales company in the form of DORMA France.

DORMA in Middle East

In the early 1970s DORMA began making inroads in the region from its headquarters in northwest Germany(Ennepetal). after more than two decades of steady growth, in the 1997 it launched its presence in the region with the opening of DORMA gulf door controls FZE in Jebel Ali free zone located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Three years later DORMA GmbH + Co.  KG, with the full support of its long-term partner in saudi Arabia, Al Zamil group, futher solidified their mutually beneficial relationship, to launch DORMA Arabia Automatic Doors.