History.

Life in today´s sense would be inconceivable without wire. We are confronted with wire everywhere in day-to-day life as well as in the high-tech segment. As soon as it had been invented, nothing more could stand in the way of its triumph.

As far back as 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians were producing gold wire in a laborious process of forging, rolling and twisting. It took the Europeans another few millennia to develop a similar process.

In the Middle Ages, wire could be produced in larger quantities through the development of the draw plate. This wire was manufactured by pulling it through the draw plate using muscle power. Levers, jacks and swings, and, from the 14th century onwards, mill wheels were used for support.
Draw plates tended to be made of steel and were replaced by drawing dies in the 20th century. By pulling the wire through the holes of the draw plate/drawing die, the wire expanded evenly, making it longer and thinner. This process was repeated using smaller and smaller holes until the wire had the right diameter.

In the Middle Ages, this technique was used to manufacture chain mail armour, the most important piece of equipment to protect against arrows and sword threats.
Germany had a major role in the wire production business. In particular, Nuremberg, Altena and Iserlohn were centres of wire production between the 8th and 14th century and the discovery of "Osemundeisen" (a very soft but also tough, easy to forge form of iron), finally turned the Altena region into the German stronghold for the wire industry. In 1938, the first German wire rod production line was set up. Now, the wire drawers had sufficient raw material for the first time. As a result, the use of wire developed rapidly. Hardly any area of technology - electrical engineering, communication, architecture, medicine - was able to abandom wire. And this remains the case today.