ACO (formerly known as SAB - Severin Ahlmann Beton) was founded on a quite unusual day: 10 December 1946 - this had quite severe reasons as nothing was certain during this time shortly after WWII ended. One week later Josef-Severins mother Käte Ahlmann (manager of the foundry Carlshütte) expresses these times of uncertanty in a letter she wrote to her brother-in-law Hanno Athenstaedt on a letterhead from SAB: "You see the new company on this sheet! May it be lucky!"

• Read the full story of the founding of ACO on history.aco
• Watch the video of Family Ahlmann to get a vivid picture of ACOs first years
• Watch the TV documentary about the foundry Carlshütte here