Persil, Ata, Pril, Somat, Pritt - many brands that belong to the Henkel corporate cosmos have been an integral part of everyday life for decades. However, few people are aware of the complex and varied history behind the Henkel name. Joachim Scholtyseck traces the path of this company since 1876 for the first time on a comprehensive historical basis and shows how Henkel transformed itself from a detergent manufacturer into a global corporation that is now a world leader, particularly in the adhesives sector.

Henkel is a child of of the last third of the 19th century and benefited from the economic rise of the young German nation state. The rising standard of living of the population increased the demand for everyday consumer goods, which the company was able to meet with its rapidly growing detergent business. Founded by Fritz Henkel in Aachen in 1876, the company expanded rapidly and moved its headquarters to Düsseldorf in 1878, where it is still based today. In 1907, the revolutionary detergent Persil, which was advertised in an innovative way and represented a quantum leap for the company. To this day, it is probably the best-known brand with which Henkel is widely associated. But even at the beginning of the of the 20th century the company had already much more to offer. Joachim Scholtyseck examines the success factors that turned the Aachen-based start-up into a flourishing company, examines Henkels role in the Third Reich and and shows how the detergent producer became a global company.

Autorentext
JOACHIM SCHOLTYSECK is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.