In 1920, Ernst Nagel founded the company as a commercial firm in Stuttgart.

The end of the 1930's laid the beginning of Nagel's production of electric machines for paper finishing. The Citoborma, a high-speed drilling machine with one drill spindle, was developed.

The frequent and typical ending of the product names -nak also dates from this period. It is derived from the name Nagel and the original organization of the company as a limited partnership (German abbreviation: KG).

In the 1950's, the company launched the Multinak, a twin-headed stapler. The Multinak was continuously improved, and the latest version is still part of the Nagel product range. It became standard equipment for many companies in the graphic industry.

In the early 1980's, Nagel was the first company worldwide to develop a combined stapling and folding machine for bookletmaking. The Foldnak bookletmakers are continuously improved and expanded to meet customer's needs. A unique feature of the Foldnak: stapling and folding in one step for unequalled precision.

The S8 suction feed collator was introduced in the year 2000. With the development and launch of the S8, which can be operated with up to three suction/blast air towers, Nagel was able to offer complete bookletmaking systems.

The Robo Feeder was developed specially for print finishing in the digital print sector. Since the market launch in 2003, the Robo-Feeder has found an increasing number of users. The feeder's versatility and short set-up times make it optimal for the digital printing market with its frequently changing running lengths.

In 2006, the new generation of bookletmaker - Foldnak 100 and Foldnak 80 - got indroduced to the market. The new Foldnaks operate with a new concept and offer more capacity and production speed. They can be combined with the Nagel feeder and collators, the trimmer 100 and the SP Plus Square Press, but can also be used as a stand-alone. 

Particularly in the recent years and the drupa-year 2008, Nagel took a step forward by extending the product range. The cutting machine DFC (Digtal-Flexo-Cut) is a newliy developed world premiere which is able to die-cut, perforate, crease, kiss-cutt and amboss in one unit.

Also the Foldnak Compact has been introduced to the market in 2008. For the first time, the proven bookletmaking and the exact front trimm have been integrated into one unit.

Today, more than 75 years after the founding of the company, the Ernst Nagel GmbH is still owned by the descendants of Ernst Nagel and has become one of the leading manufacturers of print finishing and bookbinding equipment with agencies in more than 90 countries.