Since Bertazzoni was founded in 1882, the company has always understood that the kitchen is at the heart of family life. Our cooking appliances have always been designed to help people bring the best home-cooked food to the family table.


Bertazzoni has built its reputation on considered design, outstanding engineering and a deep passion for food. Today, the Bertazzoni approach continues in the spirit of innovation that has run through six generations.


Whatever your preferred style of cooking, Bertazzoni appliances will help you prepare and serve food with precision, flair and flavour – today, tomorrow and beyond.


The Bertazzoni way
Family roots

Family. Food. Engineering. These three ideas came together in the mind of Francesco and they have passed down through the six Bertazzoni generations that have followed almost a century and a half later. Today those three words define the Bertazzoni brand.


How did it all begin? The latest Bertazzoni products with their advanced technology are part of a continuous story that began, as many do, with a journey. More than 140 years ago, back in the 19th Century, Francesco Bertazzoni and his son Antonio made precision weighing machines for the local cheesemakers in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy. Watching the trains coming in to Guastalla from Germany and Austria, they noticed the railcars were heated by a new type of wood-burning stove; a stove that cooked for the train crew, as well as heating the carriage.

1850s
ACROSS THREE CENTURIES
In the mid-19th century, a new railway was built connecting Austria with Italy. The trains that came down through the chilly Alps were heated by innovative wood-burning stoves. It was these that set one man in Guastalla to thinking. And so began the story that has made Bertazzoni one of Italy's most successful companies in the 21st century.
1882
ENTERPRISE OF FATHER AND SON
When Francesco Bertazzoni noticed the wood burning stoves on trains coming into Guastalla, he saw how the idea could be adapted to cooking. He and his son Antonio decided to turn the dream into reality. This eventually led to the first Bertazzoni wood burning cooking stoves, produced in very small quantities and just for local use to begin with.
1890s
SCALES MADE BY FRANCESCO
Precision measuring instruments were made by Francesco Bertazzoni for local trades, from Parmesan cheesemakers to pharmacists. The metal-working skills were used by him and his son Antonio for their first wood burning stoves.
1900s
ERA OF THE WOOD BURNING STOVE
What father and son had done proved to be the start of an outstanding success story. Antonio Bertazzoni exhibited at the 1906 Milan International Exhibition and in Florence in 1909. For half a century the family business grew and prospered, based on the design and production of their wood burning stoves.
1907
HAND-MADE WOOD BURNING STOVE
Early Bertazzoni stoves were custom built by father and son in their Guastalla workshop; no two were ever the same. They were very fuel-efficient units for cooking, hot water and heating – even providing ashes for the laundry.
1910s
SUCCESS NEEDS SUPPLYING
For some years Antonio Bertazzoni ran the business aided by his own sons. It was they who built the first Bertazzoni factory close to the Guastalla railway station in 1909. The main finance came from one of their wives, daughter of an Emilia-Romagna cheesemaker, who lent the brothers the grand sum of 10,000 lire.
1920s
THE BEGINNING OF MASS PRODUCTION
Antonio's son Napoleone adopted techniques learned from the motor industry in Turin. Using standard castings and components in a new factory, production reached 80,000 units in the interwar years
1923
BEGINNING THE BRAND STORY
After the hiatus of the First World War, the family began producing cooking stoves on a much larger scale. In 1923, they adopted a new FBG logo (Fratelli Bertazzoni Guastalla) and launched a new brand name: "La Germania'. The marque and the name both celebrated the railway and its crucial connection to the engineering reputation of Germany in the north.
1930s
STYLED FOR THE KITCHEN
The La Germania logo was introduced and brand marketing to consumers began. Stove performance improved with hot gases from the fire forced around the sides of the stove to maximise heating efficiency.
1950s
THE HEART OF THE HOME
Wood burning stove design was matched by enhanced aesthetics. Sheet steel forming and vitreous enamel finishes gave a more sophisticated look. The refined details and colours reflected 1950s tastes.
1953
THE GAS REVOLUTION
After the Second World War came the momentous discovery of gas in the Po Valley. A number of Italian companies responded by producing gas-fired stoves, and in 1953 the Bertazzoni’s introduced their first gas countertop units. Production of gas stoves by the family followed in 1955, further perfected in 1958 with the addition of an oven.
1960s
INTO FAR DISTANT LANDS
Bertazzoni's cookers, still exclusively marketed under the brand name of La Germania, made new friends in the 1960s as exports began for the first time, instigated by Francesco Bertazzoni, great- grandson of the founder. The first overseas sales were made in the Mediterranean area and by the 1970s the La Germania name had become well known throughout Europe and in Pacific Asia.
2000s
NEW QUALITY OPENS DOORS TO AMERICA
In 2001, the company introduced the unrivalled 'Toyota system' for manufacturing that relies on the relationship between exceptional speed and uncompromising quality, backed by the commitment and culture of the company's people. Bertazzoni also began exhaustive analysis of the American market and in 2005 launched a series of all-new ranges there under the new 'Bertazzoni' brand name. Success followed.
2010s
THE COORDINATED KITCHEN AND NEW MARKETS
The sixth generation of the family joins the business and Bertazzoni widen the scope of its portfolio to become the one-stop kitchen supplier. Award-winning built-in ovens and induction cooktops are introduced. New refrigeration, dishwasher and ventilation appliances complete the concept of the total Bertazzoni kitchen. Exports continue to mature and expand with new subsidiaries established in Sweden, France, Netherlands, UK, Australia and China.
2020s
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GOOD AND SIMPLE: THE COOKBOOK

To celebrate the 140th anniversary of the founding of Bertazzoni, the family has published a unique cookbook.

It was inspired by our great-grandmother, whose handwritten notebook containing precious family recipes has been passed down through the family.

Over the years, each generation has added their own recipes to the notebook, to create a celebration of the Bertazzoni culture that brings together our love of food, family and engineering across the generations.

Get your digital copy!

Precision engineering

With its roots in manufacturing appliances to get the most enjoyment from food, Bertazzoni’s soul lives and thrives in the heart of the home – the kitchen.

For Italians, there is a natural fusion of design and engineering. Innovative engineering lets you produce products that function perfectly. Combined with our affinity for engineering and design, Bertazzoni products are distinct in style and elegance. In essence, form and function become one.

At the heart of it all

If the kitchen is the heart of every home, it is equally true that food is at the heart of every kitchen. Bertazzoni’s home is in the Po Valley in the north of Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. Known as Italy's breadbasket since Roman times, it is steeped in the ingredients and recipes that have made Italian cooking famous worldwide.

Bertazzoni philosophy
Place, pride and purpose

“We have a deep belief in beautiful cooking to bind families and friends together – and a sincere respect for nature and its products that we wish to be enjoyed by all those who follow after us.”

Paolo Bertazzoni, CEO

Bertazzoni is proud to be the world’s oldest family-owned appliance manufacturer, built on more than 140 years of innovation. But with pride comes deep responsibility. As the business has passed from generation to generation, the family members have continued to be conscious of their responsibilities, not only to the beautiful land they live in but also to the people who live there today and those who will come after them.

Bertazzoni recognises its roots in Guastalla and Emilia-Romagna run deep. The prosperity of the town and our region is close to the hearts of everyone who works with us. We are deeply committed to nurturing our close-knit community and developing where we live and work for the benefit of everyone. In particular, Bertazzoni continues to invest to create opportunities for young people, encouraging them to stay in the region by giving them a deep sense of place, pride and purpose.


Food for thought

The three ‘pillars’ – family, food, engineering – are integral to everything Bertazzoni does. We thought the most natural way to explore and explain them would be over a family meal cooked on Bertazzoni appliances. The writer John Simmons was there to record the conversation.

Good and Simple: Traditions of Family Cooking