Hoechst AG () was a German

chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

then life-sciences company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's

Rhône-Poulenc Rhône-Poulenc () was a French chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1928. In 1999 it merged with Hoechst AG to form Aventis. As of 2015, the pharmaceutical operations of Rhône-Poulenc are part of Sanofi and the chemicals divisions a ...

S.A. in 1999. With the new company's 2004 merger with

Sanofi-Synthélabo Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...

, it became a subsidiary of the resulting

Sanofi-Aventis Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...

pharmaceuticals group.

History

The company was founded in 1863 as "Teerfarbenfabrik Meister, Lucius & Co." in Höchst, near

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and changed its name some years later to "Teerfarbenfabrik Meister Lucius & Brüning". In 1880 it became a stock company "Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning AG". For the international market the name was simplified to "Farbwerke Hoechst AG". Until 1925 the Hoechst AG was independent. In 1916, the Hoechst AG was one of the co-founders of IG Farben, an advocacy group of Germany's chemicals industry to gain industrial power during and after World War I. In 1925, IG Farben turned from an advocacy group into the well-known conglomerate.

World War II

Various Hoechst facilities were bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Its managers in charge were prosecuted along with other IG Farben managers—during the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

—in the

IG Farben trial ''The United States of America vs. Carl Krauch, et al.'', also known as the IG Farben Trial, was the sixth of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany (Nuremberg) after the end of World War ...

for their role in the exploitation of enslaved laborers and for testing drugs on

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

prisoners.

Postwar timeline

1951 - Hoechst AG was re-founded on December 7 in Frankfurt when IG Farben was split into its founder companies. The original capitalization of the company was 100,000

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

. By 1953 Hoechst had acquired parts of Knapsack-Griesheim, Kalle AG, Behring Werke,

Wacker Chemie Wacker Chemie AG is a German multinational chemical company which was founded in 1914 by Alexander Wacker. The company is controlled by the Wacker family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 prod ...

and Ruhr Chemie, among others. 1957 - Signed a technical cooperation contract with Handok Pharmaceuticals In South Korea 1964 - Handok Pharmaceuticals Joint Venture Partner In South Korea 1969 - Hoechst acquired

Cassella Cassella AG, formerly Leopold Cassella & Co. and Cassella Farbwerke Mainkur AG, commonly known as Cassella, was a German chemical and pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Founded in 1798 in the Frankfurt Jewish Alley by ...

. 1970 - Hoechst AG took over Berger, Jenson and Nicholson Ltd. 1987 - Hoechst acquired the American chemical company

Celanese Celanese Corporation, formerly known as Hoechst Celanese, is an American technology and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. A Fortune 500 corporation, the company is the world’s leading producer of acetic acid, prod ...

and formed a new Hoechst subsidiary in the US, Hoechst Celanese. 1988 - Hoechst AG sold Berger, Jenson and Nicholson Ltd to

Williams Holdings Williams Holdings was a major British conglomerate. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established by Nigel Rudd and Brian McGowan in Derby in 1982 to acquire under ...

. 1995 - Hoechst merges with

Marion Merrell Dow Marion Merrell Dow and its predecessor Marion Laboratories was a U.S. pharmaceutical company based in Kansas City, Missouri from 1950 until 1996. The company specialized in bringing to market drugs that had been discovered but unmarketed by other ...

of Kansas City, Missouri forming U.S. subsidiary Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR). 1997 - Hoechst underwent a realignment wherein its various businesses were transferred to independent companies, including

Nutrinova Nutrinova is a global manufacturer of food constituents. It was formerly a division of Hoechst until 1997 when it was taken over by Celanese and adopted its current name. The company is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a wholly owned af ...

and Clariant.Anna Bálint: ''Clariant clareant. The beginnings of a specialty chemicals company'', Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main/New York 2012, . 1999 (December 7) - Hoechst and Rhône-Poulenc settle Federal Trade Commission charges that merger would violate U.S. antitrust laws; 1999 - Aventis was formed when Hoechst AG merged with

S.A. The merged company was headquartered in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, Eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. As part of the merger, the company demerged many of its industrial businesses into Celanese, which became an independent company again (e.g. the engineering polymers business

Ticona Celanese Corporation, formerly known as Hoechst Celanese, is an American technology and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. A Fortune 500 corporation, the company is the world’s leading producer of acetic acid, produc ...

). 2005 - The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis (now called

Sanofi Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...

Key figures

Wilhelm Meister (1827–1895) founded the chemical company Teerfarbenfabrik Meister, Lucius & Co. which eventually became Hoechst AG. He was the great-grandfather of William von Meister, one of the founders of

Control Video Corporation AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

which later became

America Online AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

. Pascal Soriot (the now-chief executive of AstraZeneca) held positions with the organisation from 1989 up until 2006 through Aventis.

References

;Notes * https://web.archive.org/web/20051028022652/http://www.celanese.com/index/about_index/company-profile/company-profile-history.htm. Retrieved July 24, 2005. * https://web.archive.org/web/20050620220227/http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104 Retrieved July 24, 2005. Stephan H. Lindner. Inside IG Farben: Hoechst During the Third Reich. New York: Cambridge University Press.
"Faith Healers: The born-again Gregory brothers worked a financial miracle from cast-off drug brands." Forbes. Zina Moukheiber. October 28, 2002.

External links

Archive site

Sanofi Aventis site

Aventis Foundation
* {{Authority control Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 1999 Chemical companies of Germany Defunct companies of Germany Manufacturing companies based in Frankfurt IG Farben Sanofi German companies established in 1863 German companies disestablished in 1999