The activities of Wärtsilä in the Netherlands date back to 1827. In the nearly two hundred years since then, a series of acquisitions and name changes have propelled Wärtsilä in the Netherlands to its current position. In 1989 the Finnish Wärtsilä had its breakthrough in the Benelux with the takeover of Stork Werkspoor B.V. (a result of a merge of the Dutch machine and railway equipment works and Stork in 1954). The Wärtsilä company itself was established in Finland in 1834.