It was founded as a small family company in Bretten, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on 12 June 1877 by Carl Andreas Neff. It was first known as Carl Neff Herd und Ofenfabrik. In 1914 the company first made a gas oven. In 1950, they introduced their first oven with a thermostat. By 1955, they were making appliances in different colours, to suit a bespoke fitted kitchen. The company had the slogan im Haus - der Zeit voraus.
Innovations
In 1957, it introduced the first microwave oven. In 1957, it introduced the first induction cooker in Europe, marketing it under the revolutionary slogan of Kochen auf der kalten Platte. In 1961 it introduced the first integrated cooker units in Europe, built into other kitchen units - the built-in oven. Also in the same year they began selling larger microwave cookers for commercial uses. By 1970 it was branching out into providing for the full range of units to make up a fitted kitchen. By the early 1970s the cookers were among the first to be controlled with a digital clock. In 1971 it introduced its Circotherm system whereby hot air was circulated around the oven to allow a distribution of cooking with more regularity. These cookers are known as convection oven or fan ovens, and are still for a specialist market. The Circotherm system was patented by the company, marketed under the slogan Rundum-Hitze ist mehr. In 1985, the convection oven system was first introduced for gas ovens.
In the late twentieth century NEFF-Werke was a subsidiary of AEG-Telefunken. The other subsidiaries were AEG-Telefunken Hausgeräte and Zanker. The NEFF factory was in Bretten in the north-west of Baden-Württemberg, where it employed around 2,000 people. In August 1982, AEG was having financial problems. AEG was bought by Daimler-Benz in 1985, and ceased to exist in 1997.
When Britain joined the EEC in 1973, NEFF products, with other German kitchen appliance brands, began to be available. This would have been mostly in the south of England.
International
The company is owned by BSH Home Appliances Ltd, based in Germany. The UKhead office is based in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire. Its 4 UK kitchen appliance brands are Bosch, Siemens, Neff and Gaggenau. Globally it is joined by other BSH brands: Thermador, Balay, Coldex, Constructa, Pitsos, Ufesa, Profilo, Zelmer, Junker, & Viva.
