Securiton AG was officially founded and notarised by Mr Jakob Spreng with its entry in the commercial register on 22 July 1948. The early days at Securiton are closely connected with its first director, Hans Kuhn, who contributed to the successful start and further success of the company with his passion, ambition, innovation and, in particular, a great deal of patience and self-sacrifice. His kitchen table back home played a key role in the beginnings of Securiton.
Securiton’s history dates back to 1924. At that time, management notified the Board of Directors of the study of electrical protective devices taking place in Munich and Berlin. While the results were negative for the time being, the issue of reinforcing surveillance with alarm systems remained topical. A partnership with a German company specialising in room protection was analysed in 1931, followed by one with the same aims in Denmark in 1936. Following the interruption caused by the World War, the topic of “the manufacture and sale of alarm systems” was revisited and led to the founding of Securiton AG on 22 July 1948.
The early days of the company are closely linked to the career of our technical director, Hans Kuhn, who was already employed 14 days before it was officially founded. Securiton’s first “offices” were located at the home of Hans Kuhn in the district of Hohliebe in Bern, where he developed the first Securiton systems on his kitchen table. The expertise and care shown laid the foundations for the technical concept for our security systems. From the very beginning, however, it was clear that larger premises would have to be found if the Securitas subsidiary was to develop further. In 1950, the company moved into the new building at Birkenstrasse 15 in Zollikofen, where Hans Kuhn and one other company employee also took up residence. While the space available was modest compared to today, people still believed that there wouldn’t be any issues until well into the future. However, this was not the case. After only a few years, Securiton had developed to the point where one of the apartments had to be converted into company facilities. An extension followed shortly afterwards, meaning Hans Kuhn had to move into his own house. After two single-family homes on Birkenstrasse were acquired on behalf of the company, the company had to start planning a new building again in the early 1960s. Located at Alpenstrasse 20 in Zollikofen, the relocation was completed in 1965.
The company was first run as a one-man show by director Hans Kuhn. The first drawings were made on his kitchen table, and the first devices were manufactured and assembled in his basement. Despite these modest surroundings, the first successes soon followed, with approval for the connection of the Signaphon – the first alarm transmission device – to the PTT network granted as early as 10 December 1949. The new building on Birkenstrasse in Zollikofen was moved into in 1950. The number of staff at that time was six. The mechanical workshop was located in the basement, with offices, assembly and the warehouse on the ground floor. Mr Kuhn’s apartment was found on the first floor, below another on the second floor where another member of staff lived.
In May 1950, an important demonstration took place that was crucial for the further development of the company. Based on a performance specification, both Securiton and our competitors were each tasked with installing a fire alarm system in one of the vehicle parks of the Swiss Armed Forces. After installation, no one had access for a few days. This was then followed by various tests and trials. Thanks to the winning performance of our devices, Securiton fire alarm systems were subsequently installed in various army vehicle parks.
The Danish alarm contacts that were initially used were gradually replaced by in-house innovations. The control panels for larger systems were designed on a case-by-case basis and built individually. The first unified control panels were supplied to the Swiss National Museum in Zurich in 1957. The first trials with alarm glass were also carried out successfully in 1957, and our vibration contact passed its real-life test with flying colours during an attempted break-in. Finally, the company’s first apprentices also began their training as mechanics and draughtsmen this year.