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A wire rope factory turned 4 Star Hotel

The history of Hotel KOCKS
Our hotel’s name goes right back to a family by the name of Kocks, which - for nearly two centuries - lived and manufactured ropes in Mülheim.

Kocks’ wire rope factory started it’s life in 1810, when it was set up as a hemp spinning mill and rope making shop.

24 years later, in 1834, Oberbergrat Albert invented the wire rope.

 Kocks started adopting this new technology, i.e. wire rope production, as early as 1865, and thenceforth produced both hemp and wire ropes.

Subsequent decades saw Kocks’ rope making factory continuously expand, in particular so thanks to the increase in mining in the highly industrially active Ruhr Valley.
Construction of a new factory in Mülheim Broich
Kocks first started using it’s new and modern machine technology in its rope making factory in 1900 and made yet more ground-breaking progress with the construction of
 a new factory in Cäcilienstrasse in Mülheim Broich in 1905 where all of its ropes were henceforth produced using industrial methods and modern machinery only.
Knock’s first trademark – "DRAKO"
At the start of the 20th century, Kocks’ rope making business was still continuously growing and, after being joined by Dr. Walter Voss, Kocks’ academic son in law, was converted into a public limited company.

Dr. Voss not only brought with him ideas concerning the first ever professional marketing of the company, but also proved a driving force behind its internationalisation.

 The company first registered its trademark „DRAKO“ (Drahtseilerei Kocks) in 1933 and, in 1936, became the only European rope manufacturer to be licensed by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and thus able to supply the drilling industry.
Acquisition of piece of land on Mühlenberg
Dr. Voss continued exerting a strong influence on the company during Germany’s years of reconstruction after the Second World War and not only managed to stabilise but even substantially increased its customer base during the post-war steel-boom.

The decision to build a state-of-the- art headquarters for the company was inspired by its continuing success and put into action by Dr. Voss’s acquisition of an extremely attractive piece of land on Mühlenberg in Mülheim Broich, near the company’s production facilities.

In 1953, this piece of land was finally used for the construction of a modern, functional building in the style of the times that reflected the strength of the wire ropes manufactured by Kocks – and which subsequently became our present-day HOTEL KOCKS!		 The hotel, ultimately, came into existence thanks to the further development of the DRAKO wire product range, because, after selling the rope making company to ARBED, Dr. Voss’s successors in management, Diplomkaufmann Heribert Götze and Dr. Ing. Michael Molkow, successfully and globally expanded the company over yet another 3 decades, and Dr. Molkow in particular successfully turned DRAKO into a leading technological brand in the lift and elevator industry.
Kocks acquisition by the PFEIFER Group
Following several changes of ownership while part of the ARBED Saarstahl Group, Kocks was yet again up for sale in 1994, and subsequently acquired by the highly respected PFEIFER Group from Memmigen in the Bavarian Allgäu. The strong internationalisation of PFEIFER, which now owns 26 companies in 18 different countries, also caused Kocks to expand to such an extent that its existing premises were finally unable to cope.
The birth of Hotel KOCKS
In 2007, Kocks finally found premises suitable for accommodating its expanded operations in the shape of the former production hall of Clark in Rheinstrasse in Mülheim, which was large enough to house its head office and part of its production facilities.

HOTEL KOCKS really came into life as a result of the decision to move Kocks’ headquarters, which - not least due to the buildings’ strong character and picture-perfect location - inspired Gerhard Pfeifer, the acting partner of the PFEIFER Group, to turn the 56-year old headquarters into a hotel.

 Conversion work on the characteristic 1950’s building to turn it into a four-star hotel was started in Mai 2008. The objective followed by this conversion was to create an environment that would offer the most in warmth, ambience and comfort, and rooms that would distinguish themselves by an extremely high level of functionality. This objective was furthered by the use of clear designs, warm colours and choice materials only, and by preserving a range of those of the building’s design features that bear a strong relationship to its history and industrial background.