Henkel

On September 26, 1876, a 28-year-old merchant named Fritz Henkel founded Henkel & Cie in Aachen, Germany, with two partners who owned a sodium silicate factory. The company's first product was a universal detergent called Universalwaschmittel. Two years later, Henkel moved to Düsseldorf and launched one of Germany's first branded consumer goods: Henkel's Bleaching Soda, packaged with a lion-and-sunbeams trademark. The real breakthrough came in 1907 with Persil, a self-acting laundry detergent that combined perborate and silicate, eliminating the need for rubbing or bleaching. Henkel had acquired a patent for the formula from two Stuttgart chemists who never commercialized it. Persil quickly became a household staple, and the company never looked back.

Today, Henkel operates through two global business units: Consumer Brands and Adhesive Technologies. The Consumer Brands division includes laundry and home care products like Persil, Purex, Dial, and Spee, as well as beauty brands such as Schwarzkopf, Fa, and Schauma. The Adhesive Technologies unit is a world leader, with brands like Loctite, Pritt, Pattex, and Duck tape. These adhesives serve industries from automotive to electronics, making Henkel a key supplier to manufacturers worldwide. In fiscal year 2025, the company reported sales of roughly 20.5 billion euros, an operating profit of 2.816 billion euros, and a workforce of 47,200 employees, over 80 percent of whom work outside Germany.

Henkel is listed on the DAX stock index and maintains its global headquarters in Düsseldorf-Holthausen, a site chosen in 1899 for its rail and Rhine River access. The company completed a major rebranding in 2022, adopting a single-brand strategy that unified its corporate identity. Sustainability and digitalization are central to its current strategy, as Henkel aims to reduce its environmental footprint while staying profitable. The company celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2026, a testament to its longevity and adaptability in a fast-changing market. [edit]