UHU GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of adhesive products, based in Bühl,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Its company slogan is ''"glues anything, anytime."''. The company logo is yellow with black lettering and in many markets it includes the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

phrase: "" (the "everything-glue").

History

In 1905, August Fischer, a dispensing

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

, purchased a small chemical plant aiming to manufacture

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker ...

rubber stamp A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubbe ...

pads, paints and adhesives. In 1932, Fischer developed a clear synthetic

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

adhesive which displayed the ability to affix almost any material. Following the custom of the time to name products in the writing goods sector after birds, Fischer named the glue UHU (pronounced "ooo-hoo", though in many English-speaking countries it is said "you-hoo") after ''Uhu'', the

onomatopeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

German name for the eagle-owl, a bird which at the time could still be found in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

. There is an account of glue being used by British prisoners of war in Germany during

WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and this is referred to by them as 'Uhu'. Another version of the origin of the company's name is that it supplied the glue in kits for a model airplane named "UHU" (Owl). This model design was built by German youngsters for an annual contest named "" (the small owl) that began around 1950. The contest was very popular, and the glue became a popular item with German hobbyists, so the name stuck. In 1971 Fischer's company, renamed UHU after its leading product, was taken over by the

Beecham Group The Beecham Group plc was a British pharmaceutical company. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Beecham, after having merged with American pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beckman to become SmithKline Beecham, merged with Glaxo We ...

of England (which subsequently became a part of GlaxoSmithKline), but regained independence for a few years after a management buyout in 1989. In 1994 UHU became a totally owned subsidiary of the

Bolton Group The Bolton Group is an Italian conglomerate that sells products under more than fifty brands. Overview The Bolton Groups is a global conglomerate which sells products under more than 50 major brands, primarily consumer goods with a heavy focus o ...

, an Italian manufacturer of branded consumer goods.

Guinness World Records

The company has achieved one world record in

, in October 2007. A Ford pickup truck weighing about four tonnes was suspended from a crane with the help of UHU glue. Two steel parts in diameter were glued together with an UHU derivative and were used to connect car and crane hook. This record was subsequently beaten in March 2009 by the German firm Henkel, who lifted a similar Ford truck, this time with a Smart microcar in the back, giving a total weight of 5.02 tonnes.

References

External links

UHU GmbH & Co. KG homepage
Adhesives Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Chemical companies of Germany German brands {{Germany-company-stub