The company Historische Bauelemente - Olaf Elias presented itself at the denkmal in Leipzig with a broad auction offer during the last denkmal in 2014. This year, the company is once again significantly expanding its commitment during denkmal: More offers will be auctioned off than in 2014 and the company will present itself with its own exhibition stand on the 130 square metre joint area of the Unternehmerverband Historische Baustoffe e.V. (Historical Building Materials Association).
"The preservation of historical monuments as a market is an option for us. denkmal is the right place to obtain direct feedback from this sector," said Olaf Elias about his participation in this year's trade fair.
Last year Historische Bauelemente celebrated its 25th anniversary. The founder and business owner Elias, a studied historian and philosopher, started in 1990 shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall at the age of 23 in the small Brandenburg town of Eichstädt in a small barn. Seven years later, the building materials dealer moved to the neighbouring town of Marwitz with its range of products - which included doors, fences, bricks, troughs, wall and floor tiles, sanitary objects, fittings, wooden floors and beams, iron and stone columns, sculptures, furniture, lamps and various curiosities, art and vintage cars from all eras. There he created a paradise for collectors and lovers of old originals on an area of approx. 23,000 m² of a former pig combine with approx. 4,000 m² of hall space. A unique, museum-like location for historical building elements was thus created just outside Berlin.
Builders, architects, monument conservators, gardeners and landscapers, interior designers are today just as much a part of the international clientele as set decorators from film, television and theatre, artists as well as castle and manor owners. But also private people, who like to browse and are on a bargain hunt, will find what they are looking for here and are among the customers. The goods are sold exclusively in salvage condition.
The UP area, opened in June 2016, which presents the finishing of old furniture and lamp objects, is a new business idea of the company. In this context, cooperation with extraordinary furniture and lamp designers is currently being sought. "The size of the site and the wide range of products made it necessary for us to divide the company into four main business areas: Building materials, wood, antique, UP. Because there is a lot of administrative and logistical work involved in buying and selling, I have developed from a lone fighter to an entrepreneur with a team of 12 at present," says Olaf Elias.
Since 1998, Elias has been one of the first online shopping pioneers to make it possible for interested parties to find out about the wide range of products on offer on the Internet and to buy articles about them.
