the present day company of müller weingarten ag was formed by the joining of two companies which were both rich in tradition. these two companies now make up the two main german production divisions of esslingen and weingarten.esslingen division the history of the esslingen division began in 1863. christian friedrich müller, after completing his apprenticeship, set up his "fritz müller" engineering workshop on the neckar river in esslingen, a town near stuttgart. initially the new company made hydraulic equipment for the production of oil from rapeseed and other materials. from this original workshop, the company developed over the years to become well known throughout the world for hydraulic presses and press lines. the company was later turned over to christian friedrich müller's son, fritz müller, and then to the grandson, dr. erhard müller.weingarten division heinrich schatz founded his workshop in weingarten in 1866 for the manufacture of sewing machines and machines for embroidery. the success of these products enabled the young company to diversify into the field of sheet metal forming machines and to establish a patent for guillotine shears. the company grew steadily and by the turn of the century, it had 400 employees. not long thereafter the production program included, besides guillotine shears and piercing presses, a line of power presses and friction screw presses, as well as body panel stamping presses and dies for the automotive industry.müller weingarten ag in 1982 the two companies, fritz müller pressenfabrik in esslingen and maschinenfabrik weingarten ag in weingarten, were merged to form müller weingarten ag. an association going back many years thus became the basis for a successful business for building hydraulic and mechanical presses, automation, die casting machines and dies. today most of the industrial countries of the world have müller weingarten equipment and production lines in operation.muller weingarten corporation in 1988 müller weingarten ag opened its first facility in the usa. muller weingarten corporation was formed in order to better serve the company's globally oriented customer base. the company began its business in the detroit, michigan area and is today located 15 miles north of downtown detroit in the city of madison heights.