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Henkel Timeline

A journey back through our exciting company history.

More than 140 years of development: Something that began in 1876 as a small laundry detergent business has grown into an international company more than 52,000 employees and brands like Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. Enjoy discovering Henkel’s history!

Treasures of our history

Would you have imagined that Henkel once imported Chinese tea or that the Pritt glue stick travelled into space? Enjoy discovering some surprising facts about our history!

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1887: Henkel’s Thee

In 1887, the product range was expanded with Henkel’s Thee, making the company one of Germany’s biggest tea importers. 
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1898: Schwarzkopf opens a drugstore

The Schwarzkopf brand has its roots in Berlin: In 1898, chemist Hans Schwarzkopf and his wife Martha opened a retail store in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district and sold “dyes, remedies and scents”.
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1902: Launch of the Floral fertilizer

Henkel and fertilizers? Until 1917, Henkel sold the Floral fertilizer – mainly in Germany – under the motto “Makes plants thrive and flower abundantly.”
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1922: Birth of the “White Lady”

Who doesn’t know the “White Lady”? In 1922, artist Kurt Heiligenstaedt designed one of the most iconic advertising figures for Persil. She featured on posters, metal sheet signs, house gables and master clocks on large city squares until well into the 1960s.
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1929: Sandwich board advertising

Henkel showed originality in its product promotion with sandwich ads – including for the first cold-water soluble Henkel glue, Mala-trocken, which was produced from 1929. 
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1932: Henkel movie

Henkel brought the talking film “Wäsche – Waschen – Wohlergehen” ‏(loosely translates to “Laundry, washing, well-being”) to German movie theatres and hit the bull’s eye: About 30 million moviegoers watched the 96-minute-long feature in the years that followed. 
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1947: Poly Color – the first liquid hair coloring

The first liquid hair tinting lotion by Poly Color adorned a nude Botticelli Venus in 1947 – and post-war Germany was up in arms about it. With a modified packaging, however, Poly Color soon became a huge success. 
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1969: The world’s first glue stick

Henkel invented Pritt after the “twist up” mechanism was tested on lipsticks – a revolution in the world of glue. In 2001, the Pritt glue stick was even tested in space and became the first brand on the planet to receive the “space-proof quality” seal.

140 years of Henkel Birthday wishes

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“A business is only a good business if everyone involved enjoys it,” said our company founder Fritz Henkel. For him, customers, employees and, above all, people were the focus of his entrepreneurial activities. Today he would have celebrated his 173rd birthday. 🎉 #HenkelHistory https://t.co/l5R7EbyHmN

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Persil up in the air 🌤️ In the 1920s, our Persil ads made it to the sky. At an altitude of up to 4,000 meters, with 175 km/h and in mirror writing, sport pilots wrote the Persil lettering on the bright blue sky. ✈️💨 Spectators in major German cities were thrilled by this campaign - which was, at the time, modern & captivating! 👏 #Henkel #WeAreHenkel #HenkelHistory #Throwback #TimelessTuesday #Airplane #Aviation #Advertising #Aircraft #PlaneLovers #AVgeek #Sky #CorporateArchive

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Are you ready for #spring? 🌼💐 We can't wait for sunnier days & kick off the season with a #throwback to sunny spring days at our HQ back in 1961 & 1956, when flowers in all colors grew in the Henkel greenhouse. 👩‍🌾👨‍🌾 #HenkelHistory

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From where we ‏(used to) work - Splish Splash edition. 💦 Did you know that Henkel had its own swimming pool back in the days? Hugo Henkel, youngest son of our company’s founder, donated the pool in 1930 for employees and their families to enjoy in their free time. 🏊 There were even dedicated Henkel Olympics hosted on site. Up until today, sports programs continue to be part of the company's health program – in times of corona, of course, also digitally. #Henkel #WeAreHenkel #HenkelHistory #Throwback #Swimming #Swim #Swimmingpool #Freetime #Sport #GoSwimming #SwimmersOfInstagram #Fitness #OfficeGoals #Office #CorporateArchive

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Ready for the weekend and a #FunFactFriday? 🎉 In 1929, Henkel launched a curious product called “Chicken in Winter”. 🐓 But what is the story behind it? Chicken almost completely stop producing eggs during the dark and cold winter months. 🥚 To have a steady supply of eggs during the winter, people used the “Chicken in Winter” preservative based on water glass to keep eggs fresh. Do you want to learn more about our #HenkelHistory? 🔮 #Henkel #WeAreHenkel #FlashbackFriday #Throwback #Food #Chicken #ChickenOfInstagram #FunFact #DidYouKnow #CorporateArchive #BlastFromThePast

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It's #ValentinesDay & we have fallen in love with our love-themed vintage advertisements! 😍 This one even says "do your laundry with love"! 💞 How do you like our Persil ad from 1956? #Henkel #WeAreHenkel #HenkelHistory #vintage #VintageAds #Persil #HappyValentinesDay #BeMyValentine #BrandLove #Persil

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Teamwork then and now! 🤝 In 1922, Henkel invented its first adhesives out of a need. Due to a shortage of raw materials, glues were scare goods. But they were needed for our laundry detergent packaging. So, a virtue made out of necessity, the first adhesives were produced in a basement at our headquarters! Today, our colleagues from Adhesive Technologies are still a great support internally — with functional resins for #3Dprinting of spare parts for the Laundry & Home Care production. 🖨️ #HenkelHistory

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In many countries, children expect a visit from #StNicholas today. 🎅 At Henkel, he left a little journey back in time for you! 🎁 We wish you a peaceful St. Nicholas Day. #Henkel #WeAreHenkel #HenkelHistory #throwback #nikolaus #nikolaustag #stnicholas #sinterklass #kindergarten #tradition #christmas

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We want to celebrate #WorldTelevisionDay with a #BlastFromThePast. 📺 This famous #Pattex commercial aired in 1983. ✈️ In 1977 our Pattex also carried the weight of a house, which was transported by a helicopter 💪 #Henkel #WeAreHenkel #Commercial #Television #TV #Throwback

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Music can take us back in time - and so does our #FunFactFriday! 🎼 Almost 90 years ago, our Henkel Orchestra had its first rehearsal. About 30 employees played on their string, wind and plucked instruments at various works events.🎻🎺 Do you play any instruments? #Henkel #WeAreHenkel #HenkelHistory #BlastFromThePast #BehindTheScenes #Music #Orchestra #Rehearsal #FlashbackFriday

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