Location & environs

The Köster factory is situated close to the town of Heide in the rural district of Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s most northerly state.

Dithmarschens’ borders – unique in Germany - have not changed for over 500 years. The name, which has nothing to do with marsh but which must rather be taken to mean “ Dietmars District”, is more than a 1000 years old. Stability in the area is essentially traced back to the fact that its borders are created by water: to the north the Eider, in the west the North Sea, in the east the North Baltic Canal and to the south the Elbe. Strictly speaking, Dithmarschen is an island; windy, hardly higher than sea level, marked by agriculture and seafaring, and with 140.000 inhabitants only sparsely populated.

The district town of Heide ( 20.000 inhabitants ) owes its name to the fact that it is situated on a small, sandy geest ridge roughly 12 m above sea level, and thus also about 12 m higher than the marsh that surrounds it. In the middle ages, before the first dykes were built, Heide was a flood protected area, ideal for trade and industry; strengthened later on by the creation of a rail connection and acquisition of town privileges in connection with regional industry. The Westküste College has been training machine construction, electro technical and business administration students for a number of years.

The marsh landscape and its constant battle against water was already the dominating geological feature at the time Köster was founded in 1861.  A large part of the district is made up of polders; toilsome reclaimed land surrounded by dykes. The land must be drained artificially using large pumping stations and the dyke openings (tidal gates, sluices, flap gates, weirs) must operate with maximum reliability. It’s here on the North Sea coast that Köster’s original line of business is to be found. The outstanding product quality – vitally important for those people living behind the dyke - quickly led to demand coming from the southern parts of Germany, and in the meantime worldwide.
 
Köster is easily and quickly reached by car, truck, rail and  air.