Hans Schwarzkopf
Hans Schwarzkopf (1874, Danzig – 12 February 1921, Berlin) was a German chemist, entrepreneur, and inventor. He was the founder of the Schwarzkopf haircare brand, now owned by the Henkel brand.[1]
Life
[edit]Hans Schwarzkopf studied chemistry and in 1898 opened a "paint, drug and perfume shop" on Passauer Strasse in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
A customer in the UK had seen a shampoo in powder form and wanted him to order it for her. Schwarzkopf put the customer off several times, until at some point she stopped requesting it. He then came up with the idea of developing such a product himself. After several years of development, Schwarzkopf launched a powdered shampoo in 1904. It cost 20 pfennigs per bag (for one treatment), was dissolved in water, and proved to be superior to all hair-washing soaps available at the time in terms of convenience. The "shampoo with the black head" became the first branded hair cosmetic product in Germany. Due to the success, Schwarzkopf gave up his drugstore in the same year and concentrated on production and marketing.[2]
After Schwarzkopf died, his wife Martha Schwarzkopf took over the management of the company and ran it until 1935, when she handed it over to her three sons. Open to innovation, she founded the "Schwarzkopf Hair Research Center" in 1927.[3] In the same year, the company developed the first mass produced liquid shampoo.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ "Marken - Registerauskunft" [Trademarks - Registration information]. DPMAregister (in German). 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
- ^ "Erstes Pulver-Shampoo ging 1903 weg wie warme Semmeln: Schwarzkopf wäscht Deutschen seit 100 Jahren den Kopf" [The first powder shampoo sold like hot cakes in 1903: Schwarzkopf has been washing Germans' heads for 100 years]. Handelsblatt (in German). 2003-09-02. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
- ^ "100 Jahre Martha Schwarzkopf – Im April 2021 feiert Schwarzkopf seine einstige Geschäftsführerin mit dem Haarparfum 'Martha'" [100 years of Martha Schwarzkopf - In April 2021, Schwarzkopf will celebrate its former managing director with the hair perfume 'Martha']. henkel.de (in German). 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
- ^ Wiesche, Erik Schulze zur (2006). "Moderne Haarpflegemittel" [Modern Hair Care Products]. Praxis der Naturwissenschaften Chemie in der Schule (in German). 55 (6): 14–17. ISSN 1617-5638. OCLC 201095473.
Further reading
[edit]- Vierhaus, Rudolf (ed.). Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie (DBE) [German Biographical Encyclopedia] (in German). Vol. 9, Schlumberger–Thiersch (2nd ed.). Munich: De Gruyter Saur. p. 333. doi:10.1515/9783110965025. ISBN 978-3-598-25039-2. OCLC 992536673.
External links
[edit]- "Haarfarbe - Haarpflege - Marken" [Hair Color - Hair Care - Brands]. schwarzkopf.de (in German). 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
- "Schwarzkopf". henkel.de (in German). 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2022-05-10. The Schwarzkopf brand on Henkel 's website.
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