Willem Engel founded the company in Hamburg in 1948 - just a few years after the Second World War. With a great deal of commitment, entrepreneurial flair and a small team, he built up a trading agency for cartonboard and paper. He soon had a regular customer base and laid the foundations for the family run enterprise ENGELKARTON.

Klaus Engel learnt the cartonboard business from scratch in his father's company. After a few years, he moved to another company, where he took over the management. After the death of Willem Engel, he returned and took over the management. He continued to expand the company and was responsible for the move to the new company headquarters and warehouse in Stapelfeld near Hamburg in the early 2000s.

Frank Engel joined the family business in 1995 and took over as Managing Director in 2017. Under his leadership, ENGELKARTON was modernized, restructured in terms of personnel and technology and strategically developed further. With a clear focus on innovation, sustainability and customer-orientation, he is making the company fit for the future - in the third generation.