In the fall of 1938 Josef Culatti founded a small precision mechanical workshop in two garages and started manufacturing his first small client orders, such as an electrically animated model of the hind leg of the honeybee collecting pollen (exhibits at Landi 1939) as well as a wooden model of the bark beetle in 100x magnification (client: The Entomologic Institute of the ETH Zürich). His first bigger assignments were foldable skis and rescue sledges as well as the setup of the headlights system for the festival hall of Landi 1939. Mid 1939 the first Culatti resistors and laboratory burners were introduced to the market. After son Alfred joined his father in the business, the two-man-company flourished visibly. Despite the troubles of material procurement throughout the Second World War they were able to employ further staff members, and 1947 the company moved base to its own building located in Limmatstrasse 285. Manufacturing special requests for renowned firms and educational establishments swiftly helped popularising Culatti’s resistors both domestically and internationally.

1971 Bruno Culatti joined the company in the third generation. The emerge of electronic devices did have an impact on the firm, but thanks to quality as well as custom made items, business still throve. After Josef Culatti’s death in the end of 1981, his son Alfred together with grandson Bruno inherited the company, which employed several further staff members. From 2009 onwards, Bruno and Patricia Culatti took over business operations. Apart from rheostats, potentiometers and power resistors, Culatti also specialises in the manufacturing of laboratory micro-impact mills.

2 Since 2017 Claudio Culatti is leading the firm in the fourth generation. Simultaneously, the manufacturing base was moved from Zürich to Steinen in the Schwyz canton.