Wilhelm Opländer
The Humanist
Company headquarters around 1948, the Opländer residential and commercial building at Hohe Straße 190, now Ardeystraße 28, Dortmund
Unlike his father Louis, Wilhelm Opländer grew gradually into his father’s business operations. For several years, two engineers in the family were able to work together on technical questions. This took place after Louis had guided the family through the hardships of the war and post-war period with great determination and, despite his less formal engineering education, had made a notable cultural and social contribution. It was in this environment that Wilhelm Opländer grew up. He was the first member of the Opländer family to complete a university degree and was also a highly skilled mechanical engineer.
The World’s First Circulator
In the close and, as it turned out, very productive collaboration between father Louis and son Wilhelm, intensive consideration was given to various physical processes. In the end, the only viable solution proved to be the development of a circulator, or a pump with very low delivery pressure. The solution was to create a flow of water within a central heating system. This pump, which had to meet a wide range of technical requirements, especially those legally prescribed for steam boilers, represented a major innovation in heating and building services technology.
Wilo headquarters in 1963 at Nortkirchenstraße 100, Dortmund
It significantly changed building services technology in the late 1920s, helped reduce energy or fuel consumption, and for the first time made it possible to achieve the desired level of physiological comfort in room heating. This innovation was patented internationally in 1929 and became an established component of building services technology for decades. To this day, the name Wilhelm Opländer is associated with technical developments in heating and air-conditioning engineering (Louis Opländer company), with the newly developed pump business, and with the company name “WILO”, which is derived from Wilhelm Opländer. The Dortmund-based mechanical engineer also carried out major contracts for the construction of heating and ventilation systems in public buildings. This marked the beginning of the pump business.
Like his father Louis and later his son Jochen, Wilhelm Opländer was a passionate rower and a committed supporter of the rowing club Hansa e.V., Dortmund. He also had a strong interest in music and literature, which influenced his son Jochen, who later pursued and deepened his own musical interests and eventually became an important patron of music in Dortmund.
