--- title: "Faber-Castell History: A German Pencil Family Since 1761" canonical: "https://stationerytimes.com/stories/faber-castell-history/" description: "Where is Faber-Castell from? Stein, near Nuremberg in Germany, where Kaspar Faber began making pencils in 1761. How it got its double name, and who owns it." category: "Stories" published: 2026-10-21 updated: 2026-10-24 author: "Ellis Penhale" publisher: "Stationery Times" sources: 11 organizations: - name: "Faber-Castell AG" country: "Germany" founded: "1761" brands: ["Faber-Castell", "Graf von Faber-Castell"] source: "https://www.faber-castell.de/-/media/Faber-Castell-new/press-2021/PM_NeueInhaberstrategie_280721_DE_LH.ashx?sc_lang=de-DE" --- # Faber-Castell History: A German Pencil Family Since 1761 > Faber-Castell dates itself to 1761, when Kaspar Faber began making pencils in Stein near Nuremberg, Germany, which makes it 265 years old in 2026. It is still owned by the founding family: in 2021 the ninth generation, Charles, Katharina, Victoria and Sarah von Faber-Castell, took control as active shareholders of Faber-Castell AG. - URL: https://stationerytimes.com/stories/faber-castell-history/ - Category: Stories - Author: Ellis Penhale - Published: 2026-10-21 - Updated: 2026-10-24 ![A long green Faber-Castell pencil above a company timeline from 1761 to 2021](https://stationerytimes.com/images/raster/faber-castell-history-16x9.png) *Seven dates in Faber-Castell's history, from Kaspar Faber's workshop in 1761 to the ninth generation in 2021.* Original drawing (SVG): . Drawings © 2026 Stationery Times, reusable with credit under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ## Key takeaways - Kaspar Faber, his wife Maria and their son Anton Wilhelm started making pencils in Stein in 1761; the firm traded for over a century as A.W. Faber. - Lothar von Faber launched graded Polygrades pencils in Paris in 1837 and opened branches in New York (1849), London (1851) and Paris (1855). - Lothar's will required the Faber name to survive, so his granddaughter Ottilie's 1898 marriage to Count Alexander zu Castell-Rüdenhausen created the name Faber-Castell. - Count Alexander launched the Castell 9000 pencil in 1905; Faber-Castell still sells it in 16 grades. - In 2021 Faber-Castell said it had been owned by the same family for nine generations, with about 6,500 staff and group sales of 555 million euros (about US$622 million) in 2019/20. Faber-Castell is the rare stationery company that has never been sold. It began as a one-family pencil workshop outside Nuremberg, took its double name from a marriage in 1898, and is still controlled by the same family nine generations later. Every date below comes from Faber-Castell's German history pages and press releases. ## Where is Faber-Castell from, and who owns it? **Faber-Castell is from Stein, on the edge of Nuremberg in Germany, where it began in 1761, and it is still owned by the Faber-Castell family, whose ninth generation took control as active shareholders in 2021.** That makes it 265 years old in 2026. Faber-Castell's German family history says Kaspar Faber, with his wife Maria and son Anton Wilhelm, began making pencils in "Stein bei Nürnberg" in 1761. The July 29, 2021 press release names the four siblings Charles, Katharina, Victoria and Sarah von Faber-Castell as the main shareholders and says the company has been "owned by the same family for nine generations". Faber-Castell has no outside parent; our [who owns which stationery brands](https://stationerytimes.com/stories/who-owns-which-stationery-brands/) story lists it among the independents. The wider story of Nuremberg's pencil trade, including Staedtler, Lyra and Schwan-STABILO, is in our [Nuremberg pencil makers](https://stationerytimes.com/stories/nuremberg-pencil-makers/) story. This one stays with Faber-Castell itself. ## Faber-Castell timeline: 1761 to 2021 **These dates trace the company from village workshop to global group.** All come from Faber-Castell's own pages. | Date | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1761 | Kaspar Faber starts making pencils in Stein | Faber-Castell family history | | 1837 | Lothar Faber launches the Polygrades pencils in Paris | Faber-Castell press page | | 1839 | Lothar takes over the factory | Faber-Castell corporate kit | | 1849, 1851, 1855 | Branches in New York, London and Paris | Faber-Castell (DE) | | 1879 | Lothar's brother Johann founds his own Nuremberg pencil firm | Faber-Castell (DE) | | 1896 | Lothar passes away; granddaughter Ottilie inherits the family estate | Faber-Castell (DE) | | 1898 | Ottilie marries Count Alexander zu Castell-Rüdenhausen: the name Faber-Castell | Faber-Castell (DE) | | 1905 | Castell 9000 pencil launched | Faber-Castell product page | | 1928 | Count Alexander passes away; son Roland is sole heir | Faber-Castell (DE) | | 1978 | Anton-Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell takes over | Faber-Castell (DE) | | 2000 | Faber-Castell AG founded | Faber-Castell press release, 2020 | | January 21, 2016 | Anton-Wolfgang passes away | Faber-Castell (DE) | | July 29, 2021 | Ninth generation adopts a new ownership strategy | Faber-Castell press release | ## How did Kaspar Faber's workshop grow? **Through his son Anton Wilhelm, who bought land just outside Stein and turned the workshop into a proper manufactory.** Faber-Castell's German history says the company still has its head office on that site, and for more than a century it traded under his initials as A.W. Faber. His son Georg Leonhard Faber kept the factory going through hard times, which the company credits partly to his wife Albertine. One of their three sons, Lothar, is the one who made the name famous. ## What did Lothar von Faber change? **He turned A.W. Faber into an international brand of graded pencils.** Faber-Castell's German press page says the "Polygrades" pencil, launched in Paris in 1837, began the firm's worldwide fame; its English corporate history says Lothar took over in 1839. Faber-Castell's "conquest of the world market" page says A.W. Faber was the first German pencil maker to open a branch in New York, in 1849, followed by London in 1851, Paris in 1855, Vienna in 1872, St. Petersburg in 1874 and Berlin in 1877. His brother Eberhard ran New York; his brother Johann worked beside him until 1879, then started his own pencil company in Nuremberg. Faber-Castell calls Lothar the "Bleistiftbaron", the pencil baron. How graphite grades work today is in our [pencil grades explained](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/pencil-grades-explained/) guide. ## How did Faber become Faber-Castell? **Through an inheritance and a marriage: Lothar's only son, Wilhelm, passed away in 1893, so when Lothar passed away in 1896 his granddaughter Ottilie, not yet 19, became the heiress.** Faber-Castell's German page says the company itself passed to Lothar's widow, also called Ottilie, who ran it through trusted managers. In 1898 the younger Ottilie married Count Alexander zu Castell-Rüdenhausen. Lothar had stipulated that the Faber name must survive the heiress's marriage, so the couple became Graf and Gräfin von Faber-Castell. Alexander became a partner in 1900 and managed the firm; after the elder Ottilie passed away in 1903, the granddaughter inherited the company. The marriage ended in divorce during the First World War, and Alexander became sole owner. When he passed away in 1928 he left everything to their son Roland, born in 1905. ## When did the Castell 9000 appear? **In 1905, when Faber-Castell says Count Alexander put the Castell 9000 on the market.** The German product page says its fine steps of hardness made it the tool of choice for artists and draftsmen, and that the lead is glued along its full length into the wood to resist breaking. It is still sold in 16 grades; our [Faber-Castell Castell 9000](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/faber-castell-9000/) guide covers today's pencil. Our [how a pencil is made](https://stationerytimes.com/stories/how-a-pencil-is-made/) story explains the clay-and-graphite lead and the glued wood case. ## Who runs Faber-Castell today? **A professional board, under the eye of the family's ninth generation.** Faber-Castell's corporate page says a board of directors has managed the company since 2017, with Stefan Leitz as CEO, Constantin Neubeck as CFO and Simon Hauser as CTO. The eighth-generation head, Anton-Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell, ran the company from 1978 until he passed away on January 21, 2016. His widow, Mary Gräfin von Faber-Castell, then spoke for the board until June 2017 and moved to the supervisory board in July 2020, according to a Faber-Castell press release of July 13, 2020. Under the 2021 strategy, Charles von Faber-Castell joined the supervisory board of Faber-Castell AG and Katharina von Faber-Castell the board of the A.W. Faber-Castell Unternehmensverwaltung GmbH. The family said it wanted Faber-Castell to stay a premium brand and "one of the oldest family businesses, but also one of the youngest and most innovative". ## How big is Faber-Castell? **In its 2021 press release, Faber-Castell gave about 6,500 staff, more than two billion graphite and colored pencils a year, and group sales of 555 million euros (about US$622 million) for 2019/20.** It called itself the world's largest maker of wood-cased pencils, had its own factories in ten countries and sales companies in 22, and sold in more than 120. We found no newer sales figure published by Faber-Castell, so treat these as 2021 numbers. Under Anton-Wolfgang, the group also added cosmetic pencils in 1978 and factories or subsidiaries from Malaysia (1978) to China (2001). Its artist lines include the [Polychromos](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/faber-castell-polychromos/) colored pencils and [Pitt Artist Pens](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/faber-castell-pitt-artist-pen/); the [Grip 2001](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/faber-castell-grip-2001/) is its everyday graphite pencil. Its pens and mechanical pencils range from the [Grip 2011 ballpoint](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/faber-castell-grip-2011-ballpoint/) and the [TK-Fine Vario L](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/faber-castell-tk-fine-vario-l/) to the engraved metal [e-motion Pure Silver](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/faber-castell-e-motion-pure-silver-ballpoint/). The family's premium brand, Graf von Faber-Castell, is best known for the fluted [Classic](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/graf-von-faber-castell-classic/) fountain pen. ## Frequently asked questions ### How old is Faber-Castell? Faber-Castell counts from 1761, when Kaspar Faber started making pencils in Stein near Nuremberg, so it turned 265 in 2026. Its 2021 press release calls it one of the oldest industrial companies in the world. ### What is the Faber-Castell origin story? It starts in 1761, when Kaspar Faber, with his wife Maria and son Anton Wilhelm, began making pencils in Stein, near Nuremberg in Germany. Faber-Castell says the same family has owned the company for nine generations. ### Who owns Faber-Castell? The Faber-Castell family. Faber-Castell's July 29, 2021 press release says the ninth generation, the siblings Charles, Katharina, Victoria and Sarah von Faber-Castell, are the main shareholders and control the company as active owners. It has no outside parent company. ### Is Faber-Castell a public company? No. Faber-Castell AG is a stock corporation, set up in 2000, but its shares are held by the family rather than traded on an exchange. A professional board runs it: Faber-Castell names Stefan Leitz as CEO, with Constantin Neubeck as CFO and Simon Hauser as CTO. ### Why is it called Faber-Castell? Lothar von Faber's will required that the Faber name be kept when the family heiress married. When his granddaughter Ottilie married Count Alexander zu Castell-Rüdenhausen in 1898, the couple took the new name Graf and Gräfin von Faber-Castell. ### When did the Castell 9000 come out? In 1905. Faber-Castell's German product page says Alexander Graf von Faber-Castell put the Castell 9000 on the market that year; today it comes in 16 grades with its lead glued into the wood for break resistance. ### Is Faber-Castell the same company as Staedtler? No. Both come from the Nuremberg pencil trade, but Faber-Castell is family-owned and based in Stein, while STAEDTLER belongs to a foundation. Lothar von Faber's brother Johann also left in 1879 to found a separate Nuremberg pencil firm. ### Where is Faber-Castell based? In Stein, on the southwest edge of Nuremberg, on the land Anton Wilhelm Faber bought outside the village in the 18th century. Faber-Castell says it has had its head office there ever since and in 2021 had its own factories in ten countries. ## Sources - [Faber-Castell (German): Familien- und Unternehmensgeschichte (Kaspar Faber in Stein, 1761; Anton Wilhelm; nine generations)](https://www.faber-castell.de/corporate/historie/familie) - [Faber-Castell (German): Gräfin Ottilie und Graf Alexander von Faber-Castell (1898 marriage, the Faber-Castell name, 1928)](https://www.faber-castell.de/corporate/historie/familie/ottilie-alexander) - [Faber-Castell (German): Freiherr Lothar von Faber (1817–1896) (brothers Eberhard and Johann, 1879 Johann Faber firm)](https://www.faber-castell.de/corporate/historie/familie/lothar) - [Faber-Castell corporate kit: 4th Generation 1839–1896, Baron Lothar von Faber (PDF, English)](https://www.faber-castell.com/-/media/Faber-Castell-new/Corporate/History/family/corporate-kit/EN/Lothar-EN.ashx?sc_lang=en-Glob) - [Faber-Castell (German): Die Eroberung des Weltmarktes (branches in New York 1849, London 1851, Paris 1855)](https://www.faber-castell.de/corporate/historie/global-player) - [Faber-Castell (German): Limitierte Polygrades-Edition zu Lothar von Fabers 200. Geburtstag (Polygrades, Paris 1837)](https://www.faber-castell.de/service/presse/polygrades) - [Faber-Castell (German): Anton-Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell (1941–2016)](https://www.faber-castell.de/corporate/historie/familie/anton-wolfgang) - [Faber-Castell (German): Castell 9000 Bleistift 2H (launched 1905 by Alexander Graf von Faber-Castell; 16 grades)](https://www.faber-castell.de/produkte/BleistiftCastell90002H/119012) - [Faber-Castell press release, July 29, 2021: Familie Faber-Castell gibt sich neue Inhaberstrategie](https://www.faber-castell.de/-/media/Faber-Castell-new/press-2021/PM_NeueInhaberstrategie_280721_DE_LH.ashx?sc_lang=de-DE) - [Faber-Castell press release, July 13, 2020: Veränderungen in Vorstand und Aufsichtsrat der Faber-Castell AG](https://www.faber-castell.de/service/presse/pm-dt-veraenderungen) - [Faber-Castell: Managing Board and Shareholders (Ninth Generation)](https://www.faber-castell.com/corporate/corporate-management-today)