Building a global business

By Emma Peterson.

How wienerberger grew from a brick manufacturer to one of Europe’s leading sources for clay roof tile.

While at the 2026 International Federation of the Roofing Trade (IFD) Connection Forum, we were lucky enough to have the time to record an episode of Roofing Road Trips® with Gerhard Hanke! Gerhard is currently the interim CEO of wienerberger, the world’s largest producer of bricks and the European market leader in clay roof tiles. During the conversation, we learned all about the origins of the brand and what's driving their growth and success.

Gerhard shared a little about the company’s history, saying, “This company was the second company ever to be on the Vienna Stock Exchange, over 150 years ago. We’ve been a brick company that entire time, and then, about 25 years ago, we evolved from just a brick company to a much more diversified building material and infrastructure solution supplier.”

More recently, the company has turned its sights onto a different type of growth – geographic. This growth began back in 1989 with expansion beyond Austria into other parts of Europe. Gerhard recalled:

In 1989 our former CEO Heimo Scheuch started our expansion. He bought a company in Germany and from there we began growing across Europe. In Eastern Europe we were the front runners on technology and in Western Europe we were expanding our suppliers by buying companies that were producing all types of bricks.

Then, around 2003, wienerberger made their first move beyond bricks and into roof tiles. Since then, they’ve continued to grow, expanding into even the United States through the purchase of Ludowici, a terracotta roof tile company.

Looking at this explosive growth, both in terms of product offerings and markets, in the last few decades, Gerhard pointed to joining IFD as a key part of their success. He shared, “We entered the roof tile business in 2003 or 2004 and being a part of IFD made a lot of sense for us. The craftsmen are so important in the roofing business, that getting to hear their feedback and thoughts through IFD was crucial.”

Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording to learn more about how wienerberger has become a global company.