JUNG · Schalksmühle, Germany · founded in 1912
The history of JUNG.
“Fortschritt als Tradition” — “Progress as tradition”, the company motto.
JUNG is a family company from the town of Schalksmühle, Germany, led by three generations of one family: founder Albrecht Jung, his son Siegfried, who headed the company from the early 1960s, and his grandson Harald, who has led it since 1993.
Founding · 1912
The first product — a switch with a one-eighth turn.
Albrecht Jung worked as a master craftsman in Schalksmühle, but his ideas met no support there. He rented several cellar rooms and produced his first product: a pull-cord switch with a one-eighth turn, for which he immediately filed a patent application. The especially short actuation path of that mechanism still underlies every JUNG switch today.
Timeline
Three family generations and two plants in Germany.
The company is founded in a cellar in Schalksmühle; its first product is a pull-cord switch with a ⅛ turn.
Ernst Paris becomes a partner; the greenhouse is converted into a workshop.
JUNG’s first own factory building is completed (1927/28).
A second plant opens in Lünen; both remain in Germany to this day.
The LS 990 range is launched; its form has remained unchanged ever since.
JUNG co-founds the EIBA association, which creates the EIB bus, the predecessor of KNX.
The first LS 990 in stainless steel is made for the Office of the German Federal President; JUNG becomes a founding member of the KNX Association.
All 63 Le Corbusier colours are introduced; JUNG is their only manufacturer worldwide.
Five ranges receive Cradle to Cradle Bronze certification.
LS 990 · 1968
A 70 × 70 mm rocker and a five-millimetre frame.
JUNG set out to create a flat switch instead of the usual levers. Graphic artist Herbert W. Richter reduced the form to a square without decorative elements, in the Bauhaus spirit. The proportions were calculated from the dimensions: a maximum inner dimension of 71 mm and a cover of 81 mm yielded a 70 × 70 mm rocker with a frame 5 mm wide all around. Since 1968 the LS 990 has been produced in virtually unchanged form.
Genuine metal
Steel, brass and gold in real projects.
Stainless steel: the first LS 990 in genuine metal, made for the Office of the German Federal President.
Aluminium: the industry’s first range in this metal, produced for the Federal Ministry of Labour (office of Prof. Paul Kleihues).
Plating of nearly 24-carat gold: the Ritz-Carlton, Moscow.
Genuine brass finished by hand: the Lenbachhaus museum, Munich. Renovation by Foster + Partners.
Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier · since 2014
63 original Le Corbusier colours.
Le Corbusier compiled his Architectural Polychromy in two stages: 43 colours in 1931 and a further 20 in 1959. Any of the 63 shades combines with any other. Since 2014 JUNG has been the world’s only manufacturer of switches, sockets and controls in all 63 original colours: each item is made to order, hand-lacquered in Germany and approved by the licensor, Les Couleurs Suisse AG.
Rouge Vermillon 59 · 4320A · collection 1959
Fig. 06 — build your own point: colour from the palette, cover type via the arrows
Reference projects
Buildings where JUNG products are installed.
01
Reichstag, Berlin
Foster + Partners. LS 990 in the light-grey shade Lichtgrau, selected for the project by Norman Foster himself.
02
Federal President’s Office
1999, Berlin. The first LS 990 in genuine metal, stainless steel, was made for this building.
03
James-Simon-Galerie
David Chipperfield Architects, 2019. The new entrance to Berlin’s Museum Island. LS 990 in black.
04
The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow
Since 2008, the LS 990 has been used with a coating of nearly 24-carat gold.
05
Lenbachhaus, Munich
Foster + Partners renovation, 2013. Genuine brass, finished by hand.
06
Corbusierhaus, Berlin
Le Corbusier’s Unité d’habitation. LS 990 in 4320A rouge vermillon 59, matched to the walls.
07
Cube Berlin
3XN, 2020. The smart building by Berlin central station with over 6,000 sensors. LS 990 in white.
08
Federal Ministry of the Interior
Berlin, Müller Reimann Architekten. LS 990 in white and stainless steel, WG 800 surface-mount and KNX sensors.
09
Klaipeda State Music Theatre
MAMA Architects. LS 990 in two Le Corbusier shades, matched to the clay walls of the hall.
10
Kornversuchsspeicher, Berlin
AFF Architekten: a 19th-century brick granary turned office building. LS 990 and LS CUBE in aluminium.
11
IPAI, Heilbronn
The artificial-intelligence campus, SIIN GmbH. KNX F 50 sensors, LS 990 in matt black and matt white.
12
Miras Villa, Kazakhstan
COORDINATION (Berlin): 1,000 m², four floors, over 30 rooms. KNX F 40 sensors, LS DESIGN in white.
13
DZ Bank, Berlin
Frank Gehry on Pariser Platz. The atrium with its sculptural conference hall. LS 990 in stainless steel.
14
Paul-Löbe-Haus, Berlin
Stephan Braunfels. Bundestag offices with an eight-storey glass hall. LS 990 in stainless steel.
15
The Fontenay, Hamburg
Jan Störmer, 2018. The circular hotel on the Alster with 14,000 m² of glass. A CREATION in champagne.
16
Rosewood Munich
Hilmer Sattler, 2023. A luxury hotel in the former Bavarian State Bank. LS 990 in antique brass.
17
Hotel TwentySeven, Amsterdam
A luxury hotel on Dam Square: 16 suites, light scenes from a tablet. KNX and LS 990 in antique brass.
18
Andaz, Singapore
Ole Scheeren’s tower, interiors by André Fu. A pool on the 25th floor. LS 990 in dark aluminium.
19
Le Stella, Monaco
Jean-Pierre Lott. 99 “tube apartments” with ceilings up to 5.7 metres. LS 990 in stainless steel.
20
Omniturm, Frankfurt
BIG — Bjarke Ingels, 190 metres: the tower’s residential floors spiral outward. LS 990 in white.
21
Amorepacific, Seoul
David Chipperfield Architects, 2017. The headquarters with three roof gardens. KNX and LS 990 in light grey.
22
Zalmhaven Tower, Rotterdam
Dam & Partners, 215 metres — the tallest building in the Netherlands. LS 990 in white and a Le Corbusier shade.
23
Volkstheater, Munich
LRO, 2021. The entire theatre runs on LS 990 in black; WG 800 and LS CUBE surface-mounted.
24
Giant’s Causeway, N. Ireland
Heneghan Peng, 2012. The visitor centre grown into the Causeway landscape; a Stirling Prize nominee. LS 990 in aluminium.
25
Tobias Mayer Museum, Marbach
Webler + Geissler. A tower of hand-made clinker brick. Flush-mounted LS ZERO and LS 990 in aluminium.
26
Rosewood Schloss Fuschl, Salzburg
A 1461 castle, once the hunting lodge of Salzburg’s Prince Archbishops, now a Rosewood hotel on Lake Fuschl. LS 990 in antique brass and white.
27
Hilton Vienna Plaza
Vienna’s first designer hotel on the Ringstraße: Art Deco, 254 rooms. KNX, LS 990 in white and classic brass.
28
Hyatt Regency, Amsterdam
Jestico + Whiles. Interiors inspired by the city’s botanical gardens. LS 990 in white and black.
29
Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin
A five-star grand hotel on the Noordwijk dunes, 230 rooms. KNX and LS DESIGN in two brass finishes.
30
Courtyard by Marriott, Paris
Studios Architecture: a 1974 office tower turned hotel at Gare de Lyon. LS 990 up to a Le Corbusier shade.
31
TOO Hotel, Paris
Jean Nouvel’s Tour Duo, interiors by Philippe Starck; the hotel starts at 80 metres. LS 990 in three finishes.
32
M Social, Singapore
Philippe Starck: 293 rooms, high ceilings, raw concrete. LS 990 in stainless steel.
33
Ananti Hilton, Busan
SKM Architects. Rooms about 60 m² larger than usual, balconies to the sea and forest. KNX, LS 990 in dark aluminium.
34
GLAD Hotel, Seoul
Joh & Company. A JUNG key-card holder controls the room’s power. The A CREATION range.
35
Lotte Castle EastPole, Seoul
THE GREIN. Residences with a continuous living-kitchen layout. LS 990 in matt white, Smart Radio and USB chargers.
36
Hotel Indigo, Kuala Lumpur
G.A. Group: a staircase of old railway sleepers, the Bukit Nanas rainforest outside. KNX F 50, LS 990 in dark aluminium.
37
TAI Urban Resort, Kaohsiung
Taiwan’s first urban resort with a transparent high-altitude infinity pool. KNX F 50, LS 990 in antique brass.
38
The Cyrus Hotel, Wrocław
A five-star hotel with intuitive lighting control in the rooms. LS 990 in antique brass.
39
Beautique Hotel Figueira, Lisbon
Nini Andrade Silva: a fig-tree motif runs through all eight floors. LS 990 in black.
40
Altstadt Vienna
A gallery-hotel of Viennese modernism (Krischanitz, Eichinger). LS 990 in white in every room.
41
MOMA1890, Munich
A boutique hotel in an 1890 listed building with 125-year-old parquet. LS 990 in white and light grey.
42
9 Hotel Central, Brussels
Castel Veciana. The historic brickwork and columns preserved. LS 990 in white.
43
Castle Hotel Yantarny, Russia
A 17th-century hunting castle of Elector George William, now a 52-room hotel. LS 990, Hotelcard, multiroom audio.
44
Courthouse, Amsterdam
KAAN Architecten, 2024. The largest justice building in the Netherlands: 50 courtrooms, 140,000 verdicts a year. LS 990, AS 500, WG 800.
45
Autostadt, Wolfsburg
HENN, 2000. Volkswagen’s park with glass towers holding 800 cars. LS 990 and CD 500.
46
Wotruba Church, Vienna
152 asymmetric concrete cubes (1976); the new pavilion by formann² puschmann. LS 990 in aluminium.
47
Church centre, Poing
meck architekten, 2018. A roof of 15,000 white ceramic tiles. KNX, LS 990 in antique brass.
48
Théodore Gouvy Theatre, France
Dominique Coulon & associés. A red-orange auditorium of complex geometry. KNX F 40, LS 990 up to rouge vermillon.
49
MUBA, Tallinn
The school of music and ballet (Atelier Thomas Pucher) hides a quiet woodland courtyard inside. LS 990 in black.
50
TalTech University, Tallinn
QP Arhitektid: a zero-energy timber building with a bright red facade. LS 990 in black.
51
SKYON, Tallinn
KOKO Architects: a pattern of coloured triangles runs from the tower’s facade into the interiors. LS 990 and A CREATION.
52
Erich Loest Library, Mittweida
Raum und Bau: an 1860 building rebuilt, reusing its own brick and beams. LS 990 in black.
53
Freiburg Town Hall
Ingenhoven Architects, 2023. The city’s civic centre in unified white. The AS 500 range.
54
Bundestag offices, Wilhelmstraße
Abelmann Vielain Pock: a Wilhelminian-era building with modern parliamentary offices. LS 990 in white.
55
One Sino Park, Beijing
GOA and Dejoy: a residential quarter of almost 200,000 m² with a lake in central Beijing. LS 990 in stainless steel.
56
Goethe-Institut, Kuala Lumpur
Stoked Associates: every learning zone gets its own Le Corbusier colour. KNX F 50 and LS 990 in the LC palette.
57
A-ROSA SENA river ship
A new-generation hybrid-drive river cruiser (JOI-Design, Concordia Damen shipyard). LS 990 in white.
58
Horizon FD90 yacht
A 27-metre yacht (Cor D. Rover): lights, shades and climate run over KNX from a tablet. LS 990 in aluminium.
Photos: JUNG · Wikimedia Commons: A. Savin / FAL, Martin Falbisoner / CC BY-SA 4.0, Sergey A. Demidov / CC BY 4.0, Sir James / CC BY 3.0
Production · Schalksmühle and Lünen
In-house production above industry standards.
All JUNG products are developed and manufactured at the company’s two own plants in Germany. The standard certifies a switch after 40,000 operations, whereas JUNG’s internal specification requires 50,000. The norm for a socket is 10,000 plug cycles; JUNG sockets are rated for more than twice that number. JUNG was the first manufacturer in North Rhine-Westphalia to receive TÜV NORD’s “Made in Germany” certificate.
operations: the in-house standard against a 40,000 norm
socket inserts per year on three automated lines
product variants on flexible assembly lines
Building automation · KNX
Helping to create the KNX standard since 1990.
In 1990 JUNG, together with Berker, Gira, Merten and Siemens, founded the EIBA association, which created the EIB bus, the direct predecessor of KNX. In 1999 the company became one of the founding members of the KNX Association. KNX has been the world standard for building automation for more than thirty years, and the LS TOUCH controller manages up to 32 KNX functions in the classic LS 990 frame, including the 63 Le Corbusier colours.
Recognition
Awards and professional recognition.
The award designations are given verbatim, without generalisation.
LS 990 Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier · Iconic Awards · Product
Best of BestLS 990 Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier · German Design Award · Building and Energy
Special MentionLS ZERO · Iconic Awards · Product
Best of BestLS ZERO · Iconic Awards · Product / Building Technologies
Best of BestSmart Control 7 · German Design Award · 4,058 entries from 52 countries
WinnerLS 1912 · Iconic Awards · Innovative Interior
Best of BestLS TOUCH · German Design Award · Excellent Product Design
WinnerSources: jung-group.com · the “50 Jahre LS 990” anniversary edition · the JUNG sustainability report 2021/22
Cradle to Cradle
Certification to the Cradle to Cradle standard.
Five ranges — LS 990, AS 500, A 550, A FLOW and A CREATION — are Cradle to Cradle Certified® Bronze.
The matt-anthracite housings of the A ranges are 95% recycled granulate to DIN EN ISO 14021, produced using hydroelectric energy.
Between 2015 and 2021 output grew by almost 30%, while CO₂ emissions per thousand units fell by around 27%.
JUNG in Kazakhstan
JUNG products in Kazakhstan.
Today JUNG employs more than 1,700 people and is represented in some 80 countries, and both plants remain where they were in 1912: Schalksmühle and Lünen. In Kazakhstan, JUNG products are supplied by Service Communications LLP in Almaty. We will help you select the range, finish and colour for your project.
The heroes of this story live in the catalogue: LS 990 in metal, LS 1912 toggle switches and the 63 Le Corbusier colours.