Celebrating our 70th Anniversary
EGGA celebrated its 70th anniversary with an Anniversary Dinner at the prestigious Le Negresco alongside our committee and Board meetings in Nice, 5-6 November.
Our history began with a series of preparatory discussions in Oxford, Paris, Brussels, Baden-Baden and London throughout 1954 and 1955 during which national associations and companies found exciting opportunities to collaborate on research, process improvements and to grow applications for batch galvanizing. These early discussions had the support of the O.C.E.E (Organisation for European Economic Co-operation) who hosted two meetings in Paris and supported a subsequent technical mission to the USA. Almost exactly 70 years ago, at a meeting at the Victoria Hotel, Amsterdam in November 1955, the first constitution of the “The European Galvanizers Federation” was approved and EGGA - Galvanizing Europe was born with galvanizers from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and UK. Looking at the minutes of these first meetings, it is notable that many of the companies and families at the meeting table are still important parts of today’s modern and thriving galvanizing industry.
By ballot at that 1955 meeting, Dr Heinz Bablik was first choice for President. Generally accepted as the ‘father’ of the industrialised galvanizing process, Heinz Bablik combined being a lecturer in the Technical University of Vienna with managing the family galvanizing factory in Brunn near Vienna (a plant that still operates today). This combination of theory and practice resulted in his classic book on galvanizing, first published in 1926.
EGGA grew steadily after 1955, with the industry in Spain joining very soon afterwards and then more recently Czechia and Slovakia, Poland and Turkey. We are now 14 member associations covering 21 countries with cooperation and connections to the industry in all European countries.
Today, batch galvanizing is a modern, sustainable and innovative solution for corrosion protection of steel products, but we don’t forget the vision and spirit of cooperation of those in our industry that pulled this all together 70 years ago.
Thanks to our members and especially our Associate Members (key suppliers to the industry) that joined us over the past few days for our meetings and celebrations in the beautiful sunshine of Nice!
