On October 16, 1854, the Vienna city
magistrate granted Rudolph Philipp Waagner an "
Iron trade authorisation". That same year, Anton Biró and Albert Milde & Co. merged. The company first used the name Waagner-Biro in 1924. In 1906, the company provided the
Vienna State Opera with stage equipment. Forty years later, the company rebuilt the opera house's roof. Other roof projects include Vienna's
Stephansdom in 1948, the
Munich Olympic facilities in 1969, the
Prater Stadium in Vienna in 1985, and the
Reichstag dome in
Berlin, for which the company won a European Steel Design award in 1999. Waagner-Biro won another award in 2003 for the
British Museum's
Queen Elizabeth II Great Court. Between 1910 and 1932, the company completed Schweden Bridge, Floridsdorf Bridge, Frieden Bridge, Augarten Bridge, and other bridges in Vienna. Other bridges built by Waagner-Biro include Europa Bridge in
Innsbruck, Austria in 1962, North Bridge in Vienna in 1964, and bridges over the
Danube River in the Vienna districts of
Floridsdorf in 1979 and
Brigittenau in 1980. In 1960, Waagner-Biro worked on stage engineering for
Sydney Opera. The
Waagner-Biro process for cooling and quenching hot
coke was introduced in the 1970s. In 1982, the
Dubai branch office opened. In 2000, Waagner-Biro Gulf LLC was established. In 2003, the stage engineering companies went under the name Stage Systems. In 2019, following the insolvency of the Waagner Biro Group, the group of companies devolved into separate entities, all of which use the trade name Waagner Biro. The three new companies formed are Stage Systems, Bridge Systems and Steel and Glass. Waagner Biro Stage Systems is now owned by Austrian entrepreneur Erhard Grossnigg, whilst Waagner Biro Steel and Glass was acquired by Alheya Holding Group, based in Abu Dhabi. In 2020, Waagner Biro Steel and Glass in Europe and the UK were acquired by the Zeman Group, along with a 49% stake in the UAE business (with Alheya Holdings retaining 51% ownership in the UAE). In 2021, Waagner Biro Steel and Glass in Europe acquired 100% stake in the UAE business - Waagner Biro Emirates Contracting LLC. ==Projects==