A partnership with history: Henkel and Quarzwerke since 1930
The collaboration between Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and Quarzwerke is much more than a business relationship—it is a piece of living industrial history. Ninety-five years ago, Quarzwerke was already supplying the Düsseldorf-based company with high-quality quartz flour—a raw material that was of central importance for the production of abrasives.
In 1930, Henkel began receiving deliveries of quartz powder from the grinding plant in Frechen. Henkel relied on finely ground quartz sand for the manufacture of products such as “ATA” and “IMI,” a quality that the quartz works was able to reliably supply in large quantities.
In order to meet Henkel’s growing demand, Quarzwerke decided in 1935 to build a second grinding plant in the Rhine port of Neuss. The location was strategically ideal: just a few kilometers from the Henkel plant in Düsseldorf, deliveries could be made directly via the Rhine.
The new plant began operations on March 1, 1937. Equipped with gas-powered drying systems and a powerful AEG high-voltage system, it was considered a technical showcase of its time. It also set standards in occupational safety, particularly in the fight against quartz dust, a major health risk at the time.
Transport on the Rhine – the MS Silicium I
After World War II, the partnership continued to gain momentum—in the truest sense of the word: starting in 1954, Quarzwerke had its own transport ship, the MS Silicium I, which delivered quartz powder directly to major customers such as Henkel.
The 67-meter-long MS Silicium I was launched in 1954 and sailed between Neuss, Mannheim, and Basel for decades. It symbolized the close connection between the two traditional companies, which was based on reliability, technical innovation, and regional ties.
Today, Henkel and Quarzwerke can look back on over 90 years of close cooperation. While Henkel grew to become a leading global brand company and Quarzwerke continued to expand its expertise in the extraction and refinement of mineral raw materials, the foundation of their partnership remained unchanged: quality, innovation, and sustainability.
What began with a grinding mill in the 1930s has developed into a story that has had a lasting impact on the Rhine, the region, and the economy.
