Our Story

Georg Oest founds a factory in Dornstetten in the Black Forest to produce technical oils and lubricants – the birth of Georg Oest & Cie.

The new company headquarters with offices, laboratory and warehouse is built on land purchased in Freudenstadt near the train station. The following year, Oest is granted approval to build and operate a trackside facility, making it possible to supply larger volumes of fuel and mineral oils directly to customers.

A series of new products are introduced from mixtures of base oils to meet customer requirements, including drive belt wax, grease, cutting oil, leather oil, cart grease, anti-rust grease and ski wax, sewing machine oil, turbine oils, transformer oils, milling oils and many more.

Very few people owned a car in the 20s. But many people were enthusiastic about race events, such as those held at the famous Solitude racetrack in Stuttgart. A lot of vehicles were filled with engine and gear oils produced by Östol. Östol was the recommended lubricant in old Mercedes-Benz logbooks.

By now, the company was also operating subsidiaries in Radolfzell, Freiburg and Karlsruhe. More and more people were purchasing cars. Even the Graf Zeppelin airship ran on Östol fuel. There were already more than 100 Östol pumps in Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Allgäu.

Georg Oest dies at the early age of just 48. He leaves his two children, Hugo and Irma, with a well-established company that 23-year-old Hugo takes over. Hugo is supported by his father's long-standing management colleague, Gustav Killmer.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the mineral oil industry falls under the control of the "Reich Office for Mineral Oils". Fuels may be seized for the war. Private individuals are only given fuel in exchange for coupons. The Oest company was obliged to provide the military with vehicles from 1940. Gradually, more and more employees were called up and even the young owner of the company was conscripted.

Fuel continues to be rationed in the years after the war under the French occupation. By recycling waste oil, Oest manages to supply Freudenstadt with fuels and lubricants, despite the city being cut off from energy supplies.

At the legendary Ruhestein mountain race in 1946 – the first race held in Germany after the end of the Second World War – Östol was one of the main sponsors. More than 30,000 enthusiastic spectators watched the event.

The introduction of the social market economy led to massive economic recovery at the start of the 50s. Three men – Hugo Oest, his friend Dr. Gerhard Skischally and Peter Angelkort – were then running the company. The growth of the automobile market was a great opportunity for Oest to grow. 

On the 26th of May 1952, the agreement between the Swiss Association of Trust-free Petrol and Oil Importers and the founders of Deutsche AVIA was signed. Hugo Oest and Johann Baptist Wagner from Munich were the shareholders of Deutsche AVIA Mineralöl GmbH. Around 250 petrol stations owned by the two men were then operated under the AVIA brand.

The US Caltex corporation, already operating in 70 countries, looks for a partner in Germany for its filling station business. Oest leaves the AVIA association and founds Oest-Caltex KG with Caltex. The alliance between the two companies leads to immense growth.

Development, production and sales of industrial lubricants continue to increase independently of the filling station business. The laboratory is expanded, specialist chemists are employed and an external sales force is trained. What started with motor vehicle lubricants expands into a wide range of products.

Hugo Oest lays the foundation stone for today's Oest Maschinenbau. The idea for "devices to produce glue blends" is developed from the application technology for paraffin emulsions. Oest Maschinenbau was by then a leading manufacturer of dosing, pumping, mixing and application machines for adhesive mixtures and other chemical products. 

Caltex withdraws from the European market, as its parent, Texaco, decides to enter Europe. Caltex leaves the partnership – Oest returns of AVIA, where the company has been a shareholder ever since.

The large number of potential applications for lubricants in metal forming and cutting in industrial and automotive leads to further expansion of the product range. Oest continues to focus on in-house development and production. The mechanical engineering division also expands to include new, customer-specific system solutions.

The Oest foundation is born. A broad group is formed from the family firm, in the form of a holding company with the following business units: Lubricants, Energy, Filling Stations, Mechanical Engineering.

Hugo Oest dies at the age of 73. Following the departure of Managing Director Gerhard Skischallys in 1983, Bernd Ziegler is at the helm – until 1997 when he began 10 years as a member of the foundation and governing board.

The AVIA filling station network is further expanded and the range of services at the filling stations is increased. New shop designs are developed, which have formed the basis for all designs since.

The company's efficiency and flexibility is further enhanced by modernising production, filling and warehousing.

Alexander A. Klein takes over as Managing Director and is guiding the Oest Group. Given ongoing expansion, initial plans are made for the new company building.

A new company building is constructed for Oest Maschinenbau. Even large machines and complex system solutions can now be optimally integrated into the planning and production process.

After just 18 months' of construction, the new company building in the industrial area is finished and ready. The company completed the move in January 2012. The four-storey building houses management, sales and logistics, as well as a high-tech laboratory with approx. 700 m² floor space.

The Energy Division is expanding its range of services and is now supplying natural gas and electricity for private households as well as heating and fuel to commercial customers.

After years of excellent development work, Oest receives the release status 4 (Test Guideline VDA 230/213) for the forming lubricant PLATINOL B 804/3 COW-1 from the German Automobile Industry Association, as one of only four companies in Europe.

Östol is once again one of the main sponsors in 2013 for the first revival of the legendary Ruhestein mountain race of 1946 at the Baiersbronn Classic. The Östol traditional brand using the old original recipes is more popular than ever among vintage car enthusiasts. 

Oest Maschinenbau celebrates its 50th birthday. The expanding company is one of the market leaders in the field of adhesive technology.

The Swiss New Process AG is taken over by the Oest Group. In Felben-Wellhausen in the canton of Thurgau, a new company building with a modern warehouse and logistics hall is being built.

Oest celebrates 100 years! A successful story to which many people have contributed during the decades since the founding by Georg Oest. This was celebrated with a big anniversary party in a condign and ample way.

Oest Maschinenbau is developing a new, particularly flexible filling system for drums and canisters. It can be used across industries for liquid media such as lubricants, chemicals and paints.

At Freudenstadt-Kniebis, Oest opened close to the Black Forest Highway an AVIA filling station in the style of the 50ies and 60ies. Already after a short time, this filling station attained cult status and was prized “filling station of the year”.

Oest comes onto the market with a groundbreaking innovation. Oecopower D is an environmentally friendly, 100% renewable diesel fuel made from biogenic residues, e.g. Fat waste, is recovered.

Oest builds at Freudenstadt a new logistic warehouse with a total area of appr. 3.500 m² and more than 4.000 palett spaces.

As one of only five companies in Baden-Wuerttemberg Oest is awarded the seal "Health Active Company". A result of successful workplace health management.

With the introduction of the Oest Academy, the training and further education concept of the company group will be restructured and further expanded.

Oest takes over the company STORZ Sonderkraftstoffe. The independent brand remains with its unchanged Product recipes and sales structures - in addition to the proven Oest special fuels Oecomix 2T® and Oest Oecokraft 4T®.

Due to growing export business with lubricants made in Germany in Asia, the Oest Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited was founded in China, a 100% subsidiary of the Oest Group.

As one of the global market leaders for development and production of adhesive application systems OEST SYSTEMS has been added to the list of Hidden Champions by Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Hermann Simon. The renowned scientist introduced the term in 1990.

The Georg Oest Mineralölwerk invests in new production- and filling technology, the increase of storage space with new tanks for raw materials as well as a new boiler house.

The further development of synthetic e-fuels and alternative fuels continues to gain importance. Oest becomes a member of the Green Mobility Future initiative.

AVIA Deutschland takes over a total of 46 stations from Esso and OMV. OEST ENERGIES is thus further expanding its service station network in southern Germany.

As part of the digital transformation, Oest is investing in new technologies, the expansion of the B2B web shop and a specially developed fluid management app.

Oest received the highest award from the Oskar Patzelt Foundation at the Grand Prix of Medium-Sized Enterprises.

With the new company names OEST LUBRICANTS GmbH & Co. KG, OEST ENERGIES GmbH & Co. KG and OEST SYSTEMS GmbH & Co. KG, we are ideally positioned for the future development of our business divisions.