72 Company profileA story about people and their ideas.The history of the HARTMANN GROUP begins withthe cotton spinning mill of Ludwig von <strong>Hartmann</strong>.His son, <strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong> Sr., later founded the “<strong>Paul</strong><strong>Hartmann</strong> Bleaching, Dyeing, and Textile FinishingCompany” and then expanded it into the first factoryfor dressing materials in Germany. Committed partnersfrom medicine and science helped to develop productsand to test them in practice. Two of these were SirJoseph Lister and Victor von Bruns. Their inventionssignificantly contributed to improving wound care.1818 It all began with spinning and bleachingTextile companies suffer heavy sales losses after Napoleon‘s continentalblockade is ended. Yet, Ludwig <strong>Hartmann</strong>, the company’s founding father,purchases a Heidenheim textile factory and expands it into the largestcotton-spinning mill in Württemberg.1874 Revolution in wound careIn a letter to <strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong> Sr., Scottish surgeon Joseph Lister describes indetail the production process for the first antiseptic wound dressings andgrants <strong>Hartmann</strong> a licence for industrial production. Lister’s carbolatedgauze represents a breakthrough in antiseptic wound treatment.1867 Beginnings in Heidenheim<strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong> Sr., son of Ludwig <strong>Hartmann</strong>, buys the “Scheckenbleiche”bleaching plant and establishes his own company, “<strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong>Bleaching, Dyeing, and Textile Finishing Company”.1870 Necessity is the mother of inventionFascinated by the advances in medicine, <strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong> Sr. devotes hisenergies to an emerging industry: the production of dressing materials.1873 Cotton wadding becomes dressing material<strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong> Sr. starts industrial production of absorbent cotton wool,establishing the first medical dressing materials factory in Germany.Production is based on the latest findings of surgeon Prof. Dr. Victor vonBruns in Tübingen, who had just developed a process for removing greasefrom cotton wool.1882 International expansionWith the establishment of the first foreign subsidiary in Pavia/Italy, thecompany’s international expansion begins. <strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong> Jr. continuallybuilds a network of branches: manufacturing sites in Hohenelbe/Bohemia(1883) and Barcelona (1888), sales offices in Paris (1884), London (1887),New York (1889), and Brussels (1891).1883 Hygiene exhibition in BerlinAt the General German Exhibition for Hygiene and Emergency MedicalServices in Berlin, the company presents itself as Germany’s oldest dressingmaterials factory and receives a government award.1912 Conversion to a corporationWalther <strong>Hartmann</strong> converts the expanding company into a corporation.
HARTMANN GROUP 73“Despite the demand for low-priced dressing materials, which, it mustbe said, are rarely dependable or of high quality, I refuse to abandonmy principle of delivering the best there is to offer, time after time.”<strong>Paul</strong> <strong>Hartmann</strong>
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