A successful leap from the 19th into the 21st century: On April 1, 2025, the Militzer & Münch Group celebrates 145 years of success. What once started as a railroad freight forwarding company in Hof, Bavaria, has developed into an international logistics group for demanding markets – with around 2,300 employees in almost 40 countries.
While Germany’s railway network was still being expanded at full speed, Richard Militzer and Werner Münch were already demonstrating true pioneering spirit: in 1880, they merged their companies and founded the rail freight forwarder Militzer & Münch. The founders quickly started thinking beyond Germany’s borders. In the early years, they offered their customers from the local porcelain, glass and textile industries not only groupage freight transports to Berlin and Hamburg, but also international connections – and thus access to new markets such as Italy and England.
Soon, Militzer & Münch also introduced road haulage for its customers. As early as 1923, Militzer & Münch included the first truck in its 30-kilometer line service between Hof and Oelsnitz. It was only from the 1930s onwards, however, that this flexible mode of transport would become the most important means of freight transport.
After World War II, the company dared to take the next big steps. Since its foundation, Militzer & Münch had developed considerably and become international; the company now entered the sea and air freight business, positioning itself already for the coming wave of globalization. In 1949, the company was appointed IATA agent. Two years later, in 1951, Militzer & Münch opened its first office abroad in Athens. With further German locations, for example in Hamburg and at Frankfurt Airport, the company steadily expanded its business.
Militzer & Münch continued to lead the way and, from 1971, expanded for the first time with its own country units into countries that gained increasingly strategic importance for international trade, such as Greece and Turkey, which served as hubs and bridges for trade between Europe and Asia, and Morocco, as a gateway to Africa. But that’s not all: shortly after perestroika, M&M began opening up new emerging markets in Eastern Europe, in Central Asia and China for its customers.
Militzer & Münch continues to expand its worldwide network. For years, the company’s growth strategy has focused on the fast-growing and future-oriented markets in the Far East and on the Indian subcontinent. After setting up new country units in countries such as India, the fastest growing economy, as well as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Mongolia and New Zealand, M&M Taiwan was added in February 2025 as the youngest member of the M&M group in the region.
Militzer & Münch also continues expanding in Europe: in January 2025, M&M Belgium was created to improve, in particular, the connection between the Benelux region and the Maghreb countries.
“As a strong partner to our customers, we are constantly entering new logistics fields and expanding our range of services in a targeted manner,” says Michael Albert, Chairman of the Board of Directors of M&M Militzer & Münch International Holding AG. “Nothing is more important to us than to convincingly combine local expertise, flexibility and reliability. The future will be challenging – we look forward to shaping it together with our customers.”