Güssinger Mineral Water – a Chronology
Sulz in southern Burgenland is counted as one of the oldest regions for healing springs in Austria.
Historic artefacts such as Roman coins or a stone tablet with the inscription “Caesar Augustus” are proof that the springs with their natural CO2 were used as drinking water around the time of the birth of Christ.
The first time the village of Sulz was recorded in history, namely in 1388, it was called “kwasfalva” which when translated means nothing less than "Village of drinking vessels".
In 1469 Sulz was to be found again under the name of "Sóskút" which when translated means "salt well".
When the widow of Count Festetits was about to build a bathhouse on her property in Sulz in 1815 the mineral water well was rediscovered. The well and its precious spring were uncovered; a noble spa for taking the waters was built as well as the castle at Güssing. These were all the beginnings of the business use of the mineral water.
Almost 100 years later, in 1905, the healing springs were again analysed and the foundation for the current filling business was laid. At that time the name of "Vitaquelle" was used for the distribution of the mineral water.
The spa was closed after the First World War. The company of VITA Mineralwasserquellen AG was founded on 1 January 1917.
In 1956 the foundation stone for the current mineral water enterprise was laid under the name of Güssinger Vitaquellen-Mineralwasser and distribution began.
From 1905 to 1968 production, filling and delivery were carried out in the building which is now the administration building.
In 1968 the warehouse and the filling buildings were newly constructed.
1975 was the first year in which Severin-Mineralwasser was produced.
The second filling facility was commissioned in 1976.
The seventies held a decade of modernisations and rationalisations in store for the company of Güssinger Mineralwasser AG. At the beginning of the seventies the company was taken over by the Schwechater Brauerei. There was a further change of ownership in 1978 when the Brauerei Schwechat AG merged with the Österreichische Brau AG.
The performance of the company was awarded with a National Award (in 1977 for exemplary packaging) and with the Austria Quality Seal (1979) as well as the right to bear the Austrian national coat of arms in 1991.
In 1996 followed ISO 9001 certification which means that the processes and procedures are systematically examined and controlled so as to minimize quality risks and ensure maintenance of constant quality.
In 2002, "Güssinger Mineralwasser GesmbH" which is a subsidiary of "Österreichischen Brau-Beteiligungs-AG" was sold to "Aqua Montana Getränke Import GmbH" – a German/Italian mineral water distributor.
Two years after the takeover by "Aqua Montana", Güssinger Mineralwasser was having financial problems and had to file for bankruptcy due to restricted cash flow at the beginning of 2004 despite full order books.
The new owner came on the scene in November 2004. It was "Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani & Sons Co.", a Saudi-Arabian consortium.
The company in Sulz now operates under the name of "Güssinger Beverages & Mineralwater GmbH" and has already been able to achieve its first successes in the new European Union states and also in the candidate states of the EU.