Heraeus-Engelhard Connection

cars

Do you know the fascinating connection between the Heraeus and the Engelhard Companies?

Here in the US, the Heraeus brand name is not as well-known as the Engelhard brand. However, in Europe and around the world, Heraeus is one of the most recognized brand names in a variety of industries. Their reputation for excellence and innovation goes back to the middle of the 19th century and continues to this day.

In 1851, Dr. Wilhelm Carl Heraeus, of Hanau, Germany, discovered an improved method for melting platinum, which was in great demand for jewelry making at that time. Dr. Heraeus continued to discover other applications utilizing platinum and he literally revolutionized the jewelry, goldsmithing and dentistry businesses all over Europe.

The Heraeus business continued to grow and by the end of the 19th century, it moved to larger headquarters in Hanau. Heraeus flourished there and they employed over 1,000 people just before the start of World War II. It was during this time, that one of the Heraeus women married a man by the last name of Engelhard. The opportunity for the family business to grow was seized and they set up the Engelhard family to service the precious metals industry in the United States.

During World War II, the Allies bombed Hanau and nearly destroyed the Heraeus company, but the Engelhard family helped get the Heraeus family back up on their feet. Afterwards, both companies mutually agreed that the Engelhard company would service the Americas while the Heraeus company would service Europe.

After the Engelhard Company went public, the gentleman's agreement between the two companies was no longer held valid. In the 1980's Heraeus entered the US market by purchasing a small gold refiner in Newark, NJ. Today, the company is 158 years old and currently employs over 13,000 people worldwide.

Now you know the historical connection between two of the world's largest and most respected precious metals companies!

bstat1020

Interesteing read.

Thanks cars.

Bstat

FistFullOfDollars

I seen that Apmex news email, good read

PerryHall

I'm curious as to how to correctly pronounce "Heraeus"?

Weiss

My German background is a little limited, but off the top of my head I'd say it like "Hurray Us"! Seriously. Or maybe a little extra oos on the end: Hurray oos. Like Amadeaus.

Weg

That is interesting. After going public, I wonder what todays relationship between the two companys is like.

mkman123

I was pronouncing it Hu Ray Us.

cars

Hoorayus

1jester

<< <i>I'm curious as to how to correctly pronounce "Heraeus"? >>



This is an enigma to me as well. The "her" part would be pronounced similarly to "hair" in English, but with a slightly trilled r at the end. The second syllable takes the accent, but whether or not there is a third syllable is unknown to me, as I've never heard anyone pronounce this name, nor have I ever encountered this combination of phonemes together in the German language. This alone leads me to believe it may not be German at all, but some kind of Germanized Latin name. In any case, there are several conflicting sounds grouped together, at least as far as the spelling is concerned. The "ae" is like a long a in English, and the "us" would be pronounced like "oose" in Foose or loose. The e following the a in "ae" is added sometimes in older (and modern) German script in place of the a with an umlaut, which differentiates it from the regular a, which is pronounced like the English "ahhh". But at the end we have the possible phoneme "eu" which would be similar to English "oy" as in ahoy or Roy. So which is it, "Hair-ay-oose" or "Hair-ahh-oyce"? Surely someone knows!