Cover: Scholtyseck, Joachim, Henkel

Scholtyseck, Joachim

Henkel

98,00 €
Cover: Scholtyseck, Joachim, Henkel
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Scholtyseck, Joachim

Henkel

From Laundry Detergent Manufacturer to Global Player.

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 Henkel‘s role in the Third Reich and and shows how the detergent producer became a global company.

Von Joachim Scholtyseck, Aus dem Deutschen übersetzt von Patricia C. Sutcliffe und Patricia Szobar.
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Inhalt
Introduction

Part One:
The beginnings of the company
1876 to 1930
Favorable conditions? Fritz Henkel’s family background
1871: A new nation experiencing an economic boom
1876 and 1878: Universal detergent, Henkel’s bleaching soda and water glass
From a small manufactory in Aachen to large-scale industrial production in Holthausen
A product and marketing revolution: Persil
Cartels, diversification and wrong economic paths
Fritz Henkel: A modern patriarch in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Everyday affairs of business: Working hours and wages
Bourgeois lifestyles
Fritz Henkel Jr . and Hugo Henkel: The sons take on responsibility
Early foreign business dealings
The First World War
Armaments take precedence: Explosives production and forced labor
Henkel and the end of the German Empire
New glimmer of hope: The end of rationing and the construction of the Genthin branch factory
Henkel crises: Hyperinflation and the Ruhr occupation of 1923–24
The competition for Thompson and Sunlicht: Harbingers of the disputes between Henkel and Unilever
The battle for Persil’s trademark rights
A golden age? Henkel in the years of temporary stabilization
A significant diversification: Adhesives at Henkel
1930 – the annus horribilis
UMA as the holding company for Henkel’s foreign companies . The long road to its first international venture: Henkel’s foreign business until the mid-1930s

Part Two:
 The development of the company
from 1931 to 1947
High-tech products for synthetic processes: Dehydag and Böhme Fettchemie
Henkel and the rise of National Socialism
The National Socialist “economic miracle”
Autarky and the “fat gap”
Whaling
Day-to-day operations in the Third Reich
Werner Lüps and the sidelining of Hugo Henkel in 1938
Financial wizardry: The Syndicate Fund
Production during the Second World War
Henkel and Degussa: Business partners in troubled waters
“Aryanization”
Revenge for the loss of rights to Persil: The battle with Unilever for dominance on the continent during the Second World War
The power struggle of 1942 and the death of Werner Lüps Forced labor during the Second World War: An overview
Forced labor at Henkel
Henkel during the disintegration of the Third Reich
1945 and the end of the war: An uncertain new beginning
The end of the family business? The company under trusteeship
Dismantling?
The return of the family to the company
Denazification and “coming to terms with the past”

Part Three:
Reconstruction and globalization
1948 to 2008 /2009
Aftermath: The liquidation of the UMA and the Syndicate Fund
Henkel in the “economic miracle”: From the “completion of our resurrection” to the Persil crisis
The success of synthetic laundry detergents
Konrad Henkel: Family leadership in the early Federal Republic of Germany
“Applied chemistry”: Henkel, Degussa, Metallgesellschaft
Detergents in global competition
Not just Persil: Pril, Imi, P3 and the cleaning products for industry
Cosmetic products: From TheraChemie to Schwarzkopf to beauty care
A sleeping giant: Adhesives in the second half of the 20th century
Company & family: IPO, shareholders’ committee, sharepooling agreement and generational succession
The special case of the German Democratic Republic
Carve-out of the Chemical Products division
Social issues affecting Henkel in the new democratic era
Managers in power: The end of patriarchy
Networks, lobbying and the party donations scandal Corporate identity and mission statements as new driving forces
From “Persil Girl” to LGBTQIA+: Gender issues at Henkel
Not just environmental protection: Sustainable business practices
Punch cards and a “smart factory”: Research, digitalization and logistics

Part Four:
Foreign business after the Second World War:
From internationalization to globalization
Germany, Europe or the world?
Western, Southern and Northern Europe
Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe
North America
Latin America
The Asia-Pacific region
India, the Middle East and the African continent

Henkel in the 21st century:
 Adhesive Technologies, Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care brands for the world

Conclusion

Appendix
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Notes
List of sources
Bibliography
Image credits
Index of persons
Index of companies

Empfehlungen

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Bibliografische Reihen

Bibliografie

978-3-406-83062-4

Erscheint am 09. Juli 2026

860 S., with 155 illustrations

Hardcover (Leinen)

Hardcover (Leinen) 98,000 € Kaufen

Scholtyseck, Joachim

Henkel

From Laundry Detergent Manufacturer to Global Player

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 Henkel‘s role in the Third Reich and and shows how the detergent producer became a global company.
Von Joachim Scholtyseck, Aus dem Deutschen übersetzt von Patricia C. Sutcliffe und Patricia Szobar.
Webcode: /37979261

Inhalt

Introduction

Part One:
The beginnings of the company
1876 to 1930
Favorable conditions? Fritz Henkel’s family background
1871: A new nation experiencing an economic boom
1876 and 1878: Universal detergent, Henkel’s bleaching soda and water glass
From a small manufactory in Aachen to large-scale industrial production in Holthausen
A product and marketing revolution: Persil
Cartels, diversification and wrong economic paths
Fritz Henkel: A modern patriarch in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Everyday affairs of business: Working hours and wages
Bourgeois lifestyles
Fritz Henkel Jr . and Hugo Henkel: The sons take on responsibility
Early foreign business dealings
The First World War
Armaments take precedence: Explosives production and forced labor
Henkel and the end of the German Empire
New glimmer of hope: The end of rationing and the construction of the Genthin branch factory
Henkel crises: Hyperinflation and the Ruhr occupation of 1923–24
The competition for Thompson and Sunlicht: Harbingers of the disputes between Henkel and Unilever
The battle for Persil’s trademark rights
A golden age? Henkel in the years of temporary stabilization
A significant diversification: Adhesives at Henkel
1930 – the annus horribilis
UMA as the holding company for Henkel’s foreign companies . The long road to its first international venture: Henkel’s foreign business until the mid-1930s

Part Two:
 The development of the company
from 1931 to 1947
High-tech products for synthetic processes: Dehydag and Böhme Fettchemie
Henkel and the rise of National Socialism
The National Socialist “economic miracle”
Autarky and the “fat gap”
Whaling
Day-to-day operations in the Third Reich
Werner Lüps and the sidelining of Hugo Henkel in 1938
Financial wizardry: The Syndicate Fund
Production during the Second World War
Henkel and Degussa: Business partners in troubled waters
“Aryanization”
Revenge for the loss of rights to Persil: The battle with Unilever for dominance on the continent during the Second World War
The power struggle of 1942 and the death of Werner Lüps Forced labor during the Second World War: An overview
Forced labor at Henkel
Henkel during the disintegration of the Third Reich
1945 and the end of the war: An uncertain new beginning
The end of the family business? The company under trusteeship
Dismantling?
The return of the family to the company
Denazification and “coming to terms with the past”

Part Three:
Reconstruction and globalization
1948 to 2008 /2009
Aftermath: The liquidation of the UMA and the Syndicate Fund
Henkel in the “economic miracle”: From the “completion of our resurrection” to the Persil crisis
The success of synthetic laundry detergents
Konrad Henkel: Family leadership in the early Federal Republic of Germany
“Applied chemistry”: Henkel, Degussa, Metallgesellschaft
Detergents in global competition
Not just Persil: Pril, Imi, P3 and the cleaning products for industry
Cosmetic products: From TheraChemie to Schwarzkopf to beauty care
A sleeping giant: Adhesives in the second half of the 20th century
Company & family: IPO, shareholders’ committee, sharepooling agreement and generational succession
The special case of the German Democratic Republic
Carve-out of the Chemical Products division
Social issues affecting Henkel in the new democratic era
Managers in power: The end of patriarchy
Networks, lobbying and the party donations scandal Corporate identity and mission statements as new driving forces
From “Persil Girl” to LGBTQIA+: Gender issues at Henkel
Not just environmental protection: Sustainable business practices
Punch cards and a “smart factory”: Research, digitalization and logistics

Part Four:
Foreign business after the Second World War:
From internationalization to globalization
Germany, Europe or the world?
Western, Southern and Northern Europe
Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe
North America
Latin America
The Asia-Pacific region
India, the Middle East and the African continent

Henkel in the 21st century:
 Adhesive Technologies, Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care brands for the world

Conclusion

Appendix
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Notes
List of sources
Bibliography
Image credits
Index of persons
Index of companies