Our origins and history
The spirit of research and entrepreneurship pervades our corporate culture at ALTANA. Our company’s roots go back to the late 19th century, which was characterized by a mood of excitement about the future. In 1873 a young entrepreneur called Heinrich Byk set up a chemical factory in Berlin, which became the foundation stone for the Byk Gulden Company. Only three years later, in 1876, Carl Eckart founded a small gold-beating company in the southern German town of Fürth, and this became the foundation stone for the ECKART group.
The spirit of research and entrepreneurship
The spirit of research and entrepreneurship pervades our corporate culture at ALTANA. Our company’s roots go back to the late 19th century, which was characterized by a mood of excitement about the future. In 1873 a young entrepreneur called Heinrich Byk set up a chemical factory in Berlin, which became the foundation stone for the Byk Gulden Company. Only three years later, in 1876, Carl Eckart founded a small goldbeating company in the southern German town of Fürth, and this became the foundation stone for the ECKART group.
During the hard years of World War II, which threatened the existence of the company, Byk Gulden reached a crucial turning point in its development. The entrepreneur Günther Quandt took over as manager and added Byk Gulden to his corporate group. In 1977, as a consequence of the split of Varta AG, ALTANA was formed under the leadership of Herbert Quandt and listed on the stock exchange as an independent company.
The majority of the shares in ALTANA are owned by Susanne Klatten, daughter of Herbert Quandt, so in this sense the company is still largely owned by the family. Our shareholder structure offers employees and customers security and continuity – which is an important requirement for sustainable, long-term business success. Firm roots make a stabilizing anchor in the tough international competition. And they are an advantage when the global markets demand speed and the willingness to make changes.
Long-term planning and responsible action
Our company’s management principles include an entrepreneurial mentality and the corresponding scope for action, long-term orientation, decentralization, efficiency and involving the employees in the success of the company. Thinking and acting as entrepreneurs means “making decisions,” “shaping,” “taking responsibility” and “developing”. To make it possible for the ALTANA employees to assume this type of responsibility, we offer them jobs with a wide variety of tasks and as much room for development as possible.
As a company we are aware of our responsibility to society at large. We play an active role in this area and in educational and research projects.
Highly qualified and motivated employees
Our success as a business ultimately depends on our employees. Their commitment (including activities outside the company), their accountability and their creativity are responsible for the image of ALTANA both within the company and in the outside world. Our wide range of training courses and our remuneration scheme based on performance and results motivate our staff to think and act as entrepreneurs.