Faber-Castell

There are about 16 manufacturing plants (in 10 countries) which mainly manufacture writing instruments.[5]

Geroldsgrün, Faber-Castell works

Faber-Castell was founded in 1761 at Stein near Nuremberg by cabinet maker Kaspar Faber (1730–84) as the A.W. Faber Company, and has remained in the Faber family for eight generations. It opened branches in New York (1849), London (1851), Paris (1855), and expanded to Vienna (1872) and St. Petersburg (1874). It opened a factory in Geroldsgrün where slide rules were produced. It expanded internationally and launched new products under Kaspar Faber's ambitious great-grandson, Lothar (1817–96).[6]

In 1900, after the marriage of Lothar's granddaughter and heiress with a count of Castell, the A.W. Faber enterprise took the name of Faber-Castell and a new logo, combining the Faber motto, Since 1761, with the "jousting knights" of the Castells' coat-of-arms.[7] A.W. Faber is the oldest brand-name pencil continuously sold in the US, having begun sales in 1870.[4]

Today, the company operates 14 factories and 20 sales units, with six in Europe, four in Asia, three in North America, five in South America, and one each in Australia and New Zealand. The Faber-Castell Group employs a staff of approximately 7,000 and does business in more than 100 countries.[3]

Beginning in the 1850s Faber started to use graphite from Siberia and cedar wood from Florida to produce its pencils.[4]

Faber-Castell is well known for its brand of PITT Artist pens. The pens, used by comic and manga artists such as Adam Hughes,[8] emit an India ink that is both acid-free and archival, and comes in a variety of colors.

The following chart contains all the Faber-Castell product lines.[9]

From about 1880 to 1975 Faber-Castell was also one of the world's major manufacturers of slide rules, the best known of which was the 2/83N.

The immensely wealthy Lothar Faber was ennobled in 1861 and made Baron von Faber in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1881.[6][10] The sons of his only son Wilhelm (1851–1893) (by his wife Bertha Faber {1856–1940}, daughter of Lothar's younger brother, Eberhard {1822–1879}, who had founded the New York branch of the company) having died young, a marriage for his granddaughter and heiress Ottilie was arranged with a scion of one of Germany's formerly ruling comital dynasties. Yet in the conservative German Empire of fin-de-siècle Europe, the marriage of a Faber into a family of the high nobility was regarded as too bold a leap upward socially. A morganatic marriage would have been required, and the Faber pencil works could not have remained in the hands of their descendants because trafficking in commerce was still considered an act of social derogation among members of the Hochadel.

Faber Castle at Stein near Nuremberg

To resolve this dilemma, the chosen groom, Count Alexander von Castell-Rüdenhausen (1866–1928) renounced his birth rank prior to the marriage. The Castell family had been Imperial counts in Franconia, known since the 11th century. When the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved under pressure from Napoleon I in 1806, the Castell lands were annexed by the Kingdom of Bavaria. Although deprived of sovereignty, in 1815 the Castells were mediatized, their rank with the reigning dynasties of Europe being formally recognized,[11] and family would be granted the hereditary title of Prince.[11]

Count Alexander, a younger son of the first prince, married the pencil heiress, Baroness Ottilie von Faber (1877–1944), in 1898.[11] He was granted the new hereditary title of Count von Faber-Castell in Bavaria for the descendants of their marriage.[11][12] Although Alexander and Ottilie divorced in 1918, the Faber business trust had transferred headship of the company to Alexander,[6] who even kept the Fabers' renovated palace at Stein (which would be commandeered to billet journalists during the Nuremberg trials, including Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck).[13]

In 1927 Alexander resumed his original name for himself, his second wife (born a countess, Margit Zedtwitz von Moravan und Duppau, 1886–1973), and their son, Count Radulf (1922–2004).[12] His issue by the first marriage had never been considered dynasts of the House of Castell, but they inherited the vast Faber fortune and continue to include Castell in their name with the comital title.[12]

Various branches of the family continued to flourish, but the Faber and Faber-Castell corporate holdings usually passed to the eldest male of the patrilineage.[6] Alexander and Ottilie's only son, Count Roland von Faber-Castell (1905–78), inherited headship of the Faber-Castell companies from his parents. His eldest son, Hubertus von Faber-Castell left the family business after a dispute with his father and was succeeded by his younger brother, Anton-Wolfgang (1941–2016). As the first born, Count Hubertus inherited the majority of the family's assets, yet sold most of his company shares to his successor, after leaving the company. Count Hubertus joined his maternal family business Sal Oppenheim. The company stakes made Count Hubertus von Faber-Castell a billionaire.[14] Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, who left a son, Charles Alexander von Faber-Castell (born in Zürich 20 June 1980) of his 1986 marriage to Carla Mathilde Lamesch. His widow, Mary Hogan (born 1951), continues as managing director of Faber-Castell's cosmetics division. His three daughters, Countess Katharina Elizabeth (born 5 May 1988), and twins Countess Sarah Angela and Countess Victoria Maria (born 1 August 1996), succeed him.[3][15]

Hubertus's daughter, Countess Floria-Franziska von Faber-Castell (b. 1974), was married at Kronberg on 17 May 2003 in a much-publicised wedding attended by members of Europe's reigning families, to Donatus, Hereditary Prince of Hesse,[16] a great-grandson of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and a grand-nephew of Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, sister of Britain's prince consort Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His second daughter is German-Swiss philanthropist Caroline von Faber-Castell, who is married to Düsseldorf-based entrepreneur Michael Gotzens. Patrick von Faber-Castell publicly married German actress Mariella Ahrens in Faber-Castell Castle, near Nuremberg.[17]

• A1. Alexander Friedrich Lothar von Faber-Castell (Sole owner Faber-Castell) (but retains the original title for himself, his second wife and son); Born July 6, 1866 in Rüdenhausen; † April 11, 1928 in Oberstdorf; ∞ I. (February 28, 1898 in Stein, 0 | 0 1918) Ottilie von Faber, born September 6, 1877 in Stein; † September 28, 1944 in Nuremberg; II. (July 15, 1920 in Stein) Margit Zedtwitz of Moravan and Duppau, born September 30, 1886 in Duppau; † October 25, 1973 in Castle Schwanberg, Schwanberg
• B1. (I.) Roland Lothar Wolfgang Christian Ernst Wilhelm von Faber-Castell (Sole owner Faber-Castell) * April 21, 1905 in Schwarzenbruck; † February 2, 1978 in Ansbach; ∞ I. (January 23, 1928 in London, 0 | 0 1935) Alix-May of Frankenberg and Ludwigsdorf, born September 20, 1907 in Munich; † December 19, 1979 in Polop, Spain; ∞ II. (December 8, 1938 in Stein, 0 | 0 1969) Katharina Sprecher of Bernegg, * June 24, 1917 in Zurich; † April 22, 1994 in Küsnacht; ∞ III. (14 August 1969 in Stein) Ursula soil, born October 4, 1924 in Wurzen; † November 8, 2003 in Vienna
• C1. Felicitas Ottilie von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) * July 10, 1929 in Stein; ∞ (July 20, 1966 in Munich) Tschammer Wagner, born April 11, 1928 in Neisse
• C2. Erika-Elisabeth von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) * 2 September 1930 in Dürrenhembach; ∞ (in stone November 16, 1953) Edzard von Wedel Baron Wedel-Jarlsberg, born February 15, 1924 in Göttingen; † June 12, 1969 in Zurich
• C3. Hubertus von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell & Bankhaus Sal. Oppenheim) * April 8, 1934 in Munich; † January 29, 2007; ∞ I. (May 20, 1960 in Frankfurt am Main, 0 | 0 1967) Liselotte Baecker, born August 20, 1939 in Frankfurt am Main; ∞ II. (March 15, 1970 in Meerbusch (civ.), March 21, 1970 in Meerbusch (rel.), 0 | 0 1982) Adelheid von der Leyen to Bloemersheim, born November 6, 1945 in Homberg; † May 23, 2010 in Wiesbaden
• D1. (I.) Caroline von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell & Bankhaus Sal. Oppenheim) * August 20, 1961 in Düsseldorf; ∞ (September 22, 1989 in Düsseldorf (civ.), July 29, 1990 in Castle Stein, Stein, (rel.)) Michael Gotzens, born March 3, 1958 in Düsseldorf
• E1. Antonia Gotzens (born 1990)
• E2. Alessandra Gotzens (born 1994)
• E3. Nicholas Gotzens (born 1997)
• D2. (I.) Patrick von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell & Bankhaus Sal. Oppenheim) * June 4, 1965 in Düsseldorf; ∞ (December 12, 2006 in New York City (civ.), July 7, 2007 in Castle Stein, Stein, 0 | 0 2015) Mariella Ahrens, born April 2, 1969 in Leningrad, Soviet Union
• E4. Lucia Marie Christina of Faber-Castell (born 2007)
• D3. (II.) Floria-Franziska von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell & Bankhaus Sal. Oppenheim) * October 14, 1974 in Düsseldorf; ∞ (April 25, 2003 in Wiesbaden (civ.), May 17, 2003 in Kronberg (rel.)) Heinrich Donatus of Hesse , born October 17, 1966 in Kiel
• C5. Angela von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) * 4 July 1939 in Nuremberg; † August 29, 1991 in Munich; ∞ (August 29, 1959 in Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland (civ.), October 17, 1959 in Stein (rel.), 0 | 0 1986) Heinrich von Kölichen, born August 18, 1926 in Kittletztreben; † June 6, 1991 in Munich
• D1. Nadine von Kölichen (born July 24, 1969); ∞ (1999) Christoph Pöppinghaus
• D2. Stephan von Kölichen
• D3. Roland von Kölichen
• C6. Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell, as well as Chairman of the Board) * June 7, 1941 in Bamberg; † January 21, 2016 in Houston, Texas; ∞ I. (June 16, 1986 in Las Vegas, 0 | 0 1986) Carla Mathilde Lamesch, born July 15, 1942 in Luxembourg; † May 18, 2010 in Little Rock; ∞ II. (December 12, 1987 in Stein) Mary Hogan, born November 25, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri
• D1. (I.) Married, Charles Alexander von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) (born 1980 in Zurich); ∞ (September 30, 2011 in Stein (civ.), May 26, 2012 in Stein (rel.)) Melissa Eliyesil, (born 1984 in Istanbul)
• E1. Leonhard von Faber-Castell (born April 14, 2016)
• E2. Carla von Faber-Castell (born 7 June 2017)
• D2. (II.) Katharina von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) (born 1988)
• D3. (II.) Victoria von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) (born 1996)
• D4. (II.) Sarah von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) (born 1996)
• C7. Andreas von Faber-Castell (Owner Faber-Castell) * June 1, 1946 in Dürrenhembach; ∞ (January 6, 1973 in Princeton, New Jersey) Virginia Ruth Porter, born January 31, 1947 in Trenton, New Jersey
• D1. Natalie von Faber-Castell (born 1976 in Sydney); ∞ (October 8, 2005 in stone) Salvatore Lacaria, born December 16, 1968
• D2. Alea Virginia Andrea Christina of Faber-Castell (born 1978 in Sydney); ∞ (January 8, 2006 in Sydney) Brian Martin McGabhan
• D3. Anton von Faber-Castell (born 1983 in Sydney); ∞ (May 16, 2014 (civ.), May 17, 2014 (rel.)) Kate Stahl
• C8. Christian von Faber-Castell (born May 17, 1950 in Constance); ∞ (11 October 1987 in Küsnacht) Barbla Mani, born November 4, 1951 in Thusis, Switzerland

• Graf von Faber-Castell
• Faber-Castell Family
• Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie.
• House of Hesse
• Mariella Ahrens
• Oppenheim family
• Sadik Eliyesil

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Faber-Castell.

• Deutsch website (in German)
• Graf von Faber-Castell – Luxury writing instruments
• Faber-Castell slide rule collection
• Faber-Castell: The future of the pencil
• Faber-Castell's eraser collection
• BBC visits Nuremberg in Germany to look at Staedtler and Faber-Castell's productive pencil rivalry. Audio, 28 minutes.
• Documents and clippings about Faber-Castell in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW