Corporate History

1851 – 1900: “First German platinum melting house”: a pharmacist and platinum

The father of today’s global company was Wilhelm Carl Heraeus, a pharmacist and chemist who took over his father’s pharmacy in Hanau, Germany, in 1851. At the time, platinum was in high demand for jewelry making. But platinum posed a major challenge for goldsmiths: it had to be forged in a white-hot state, because it is extremely hard and has a melting point of 1769 degrees Celsius.

Wilhelm Carl Heraeus, who worked with local goldsmiths, was familiar with the problem—and he found a solution. After extensive attempts, he succeeded in melting two kilograms of platinum in an oxyhydrogen gas flame. The “first German platinum melting house” was born, and success was not far off. The young entrepreneur's customers soon included goldsmith shops and jewelry factories around the world, as well as dental factories, chemical laboratories, and companies in numerous other industrial sectors. Wilhelm Carl Heraeus continued to experiment with platinum, and found one new application after another for the precious metal.

By the end of the 19th century, Dr. Wilhelm Heraeus and Heinrich Heraeus had inherited their father’s business, and W. C. Heraeus relocated to new facilities just outside the city gates of Hanau together with 40 employees. At that time, around 1,000 kilograms of platinum were melted and processed each year.

1901 – 1920: Buoyed by the spirit of invention

Dr. Wilhelm Heraeus and Heinrich Heraeus followed in their father’s footsteps with a continued emphasis on research and development. They also brought on board a friend from their school days: Dr. Richard Küch, a physicist and chemist who forged solid contacts between Heraeus and the scientific world. His groundbreaking inventions and fundamental research laid the foundation for many of the activities the company pursues today.

Küch reached a milestone in 1899 when he discovered a process for obtaining high-purity and relatively bubble-free quartz glass from rock crystal by melting it using an oxyhydrogen blowpipe—a breakthrough with benefits for industry and medicine.

1921 – 1945: Growing into an international high-tech company

Research and development at Heraeus continued apace in the 20th century. One of the most outstanding technological innovations of the first half of the 20th century came from Heraeus: the process of melting metal materials under vacuum. For a time, Heraeus even operated its vacuum melting facility as an independent company that stood out for its innovative advances in the field. Between 1923 and 1933, the company received a total of 84 German patents.

In the 1920s, the third generation of the family joined the company. Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich Heraeus was responsible for technical management for almost four decades, while his cousin Dr. Reinhard Heraeus managed the business side of the company.

World War I, inflation and the collapse of markets brought Heraeus its share of difficulties, but the enterprise continued to grow. In 1939, 1,000 people worked for the company; its annual revenues had reached 20 million German marks. With Dr. Reinhard Heraeus at the helm, the family-owned company had finally developed into a multi-product enterprise.

When World War II broke out, the company’s growth came to an abrupt halt. Many employees were drafted into the military, and bombing raids all but destroyed the production facilities in Hanau.

1946 – 1980: Heraeus becomes a global player

Production in the post-war period emphasized high vacuum technology and contact technology. These fields flourished during the period of the economic recovery, because Heraeus could build upon intensive development work.

Heraeus also benefited from the international contacts already forged by the company's leaders at the turn of the century. Dr. Wilhelm Heinrich and Dr. Reinhard Heraeus built on that foundation. The first foreign sales offices were established in 1958 in France and Italy. Foreign subsidiaries and affiliated companies followed in the USA, England, and Japan, along with production facilities in Korea and the Philippines. In 1979, foreign revenues surpassed domestic sales for the first time.

1981 – 2000: The fourth generation takes the helm

In 1983, Dr. Jürgen Heraeus took the helm, the fourth generation of the Heraeus family to lead the company. Under his guidance, the enterprise became a full-fledged global organization. After founding Heraeus Holding GmbH in 1985, he reorganized the Group from the ground up. He assigned its core activities to five decentralized, independently operating managing companies: W. C. Heraeus (precious metals), Heraeus Electro-Nite (sensors), Heraeus Kulzer (dental and medical products), Heraeus Quarzglas (quartz glass), and Heraeus Noblelight (specialty light sources).

These new management structures prepared Heraeus well for globalization. Dr. Jürgen Heraeus extended the Group's activities into Asia, and it soon achieved the revenues and operating results of a truly worldwide group of companies.

From 2001 to 2011: More than 160 years of success at Heraeus

In 2001, the Heraeus Group celebrated its 150-year anniversary. The small Unicorn Pharmacy where Wilhelm Carl Heraeus began his work had developed into a precious metals and technology Group with more than 13,000 employees in facilities all over the world. Still a family-owned company, Heraeus is well equipped for the technological and economic challenges that lie ahead. With its open corporate culture and broad product portfolio, the company remains relatively independent of developments in individual branches of industry.

The Group operates in global niche markets characterized by high entrance barriers, long-term growth, and attractive returns. It focuses on businesses in the areas of the environment, health care, mobility, communications, and energy. Through customer-oriented product developments and strategic acquisitions, Heraeus has steadily strengthened its global market and technology leadership in various industries. Innovations will remain a key to the company’s success in the future. Since 2003, the annual Heraeus Innovation Awards for new products and processes have promoted the lively culture of innovation at Heraeus.

Strong growth in its largest business group, W. C. Heraeus, led to its division into two business groups: Heraeus Precious Metals (HPM) and Heraeus Materials Technology (HMT). Started in 2009 and completed in 2011, the process gave the Heraeus Group a total of seven business groups.

From 2012 to today

In 2013 Heraeus sold the dental products business group. The introduction of new materials and treatments has fundamentally changed the Heraeus Dental business in recent years. In particular, the use of precious metals products, Heraeus’ traditional core business, has dropped significantly in dental medicine. The Heraeus Group now has six business groups.

Jan Rinnert took over as the CEO of Heraeus Holding in July 2013, having served as a member of the Board of Management since 2007. This is the first time since 2000 that a member of the Heraeus family is leading the company.

In April 2013, Rolf Najork becomes a member of the Board of Management of Heraeus Holding. In his role as the company’s chief operating officer (COO) he heads up the Operations areas.

2014, the Board of Management of Heraeus Holding welcomed its third member: Rolf Wetzel assumed his new role as the company's chief financial officer (CFO).

Heraeus Group with a now organizational setting, effective from January 1, 2015: The business groups Heraeus Precious Metals and Heraeus Materials Technology are being reorganized into seven new global business units (GBUs). The other four existing business groups Heraeus Medical, Heraeus Electro-Nite, Heraeus Quarzglas and Heraeus Noblelight are also managed as GBUs and otherwise unaffected by organizational changes. Another new GBU is Heraeus New Businesses, in which the Group develops technologies to capture additional growth potential.

In addition, Heraeus expanded its Board of Management: Dr. Roland Gerner, appointed as member of the Heraeus Board of Management, took on the role of Chief Technical Officer (CTO), effective from 1st January 2015. With the appointment of Roland Gerner the Heraeus Board of Management is now a quartet.

In January 2016 the previous president of Heraeus Medical GmbH, Dr. André Kobelt, joined the management board of Heraeus Holding in his new role as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Rolf Najork retired from the company.

Looking forward, Heraeus has set itself a number of goals: maintaining above-average growth on its own and through acquisitions, strengthening its international market position and partnerships with customers, and building on the solid foundation of its broad product portfolio to expand its role as an innovative pioneer. The Heraeus Corporate Guiding Principles 2020, introduced in 2010, underpin its pursuit of these goals. In every corporate policy decision, the Heraeus Group focuses on safeguarding its financial stability and long-term independence.