ESSA Security Association since 1967

History of the Association

ESSA e.V. is the leading international association of the physical security industry. The Association was established in 1967 as Forschungs- und Prüfgemeinschaft Geldschränke und Tresoranlagen e.V. (FuP) by the companies that were most active in the security market in Germany at that time. The aim was to develop standards in order to enable comparisons of the physical security products as well as measurements at the different security grades and in order to provide the industry with a certain level of transparency, to ensure high quality standards and fair competition.

In October 2016, the FuP became ESSA in order to underscore the international orientation of the association. With this change of name, it was also possible to promote the activities of the association more strongly outside of Germany.  

Now, 50 years after the foundation of the Association, ESSA e.V. still pursues the strategy of transparency adopted back then. As an international, inter-sectoral network, the Association combines all groups of representatives of the security industry – dealers, manufacturers, insurance companies, authorities and credit institutions – and thus clearly stands out from all other presently existing associations and their concepts. This structure enables the member companies to get insight information from all sectors of the industry. The attractiveness of the Association is also reflected at an international level. Vis-à-vis business stakeholders and authorities, ESSA represents the interests of its member companies at a national, European and international level with the aim to effectively remove existing trade impediments and to harmonize the market of the physical security industry, consisting of security technology and fire protection.

Furthermore, ESSA stands for know-how and expert knowledge. The members of the Association profit from up-to-date information about international standardization activities, the development of trends within the market and important statistics with regard to industry-specific subjects. The Association also offers special exclusiveness in the form of its expert knowledge of the formerly used RAL regulations. At the communication level, the services for the members include the dispatch of press releases and the monthly eNewsletter as well as the preparation of leaflets and brochures about crucial subjects of the market.