From a small soap factory in Hesse to a global supplier

Dreiturm celebrates its 200th anniversary

The company name “Dreiturm” refers to the striking silhouette of Schlüchtern, the company‘s original headquarters since 1825. Three towers dominate the town‘s skyline: the tower of the Protestant town church of St. Michael and the east and west towers of the former Benedictine monastery. Hence the name of the company. The company was founded by the Wolf family. The history of Dreiturm GmbH began in 1825 with Victor Meier Wolf and a small soap factory in Schlüchtern. What once began with hand-made soap developed over the decades into one of the oldest manufacturers of cosmetics and cleaning products in Germany. As early as 1927, the company launched a vegan soap, long before the term “vegan” became the standard it is today.

A look back at the Nazi era shows that Dreiturm is more than just a commercial enterprise. The Jewish founding family Wolf, known for their socially committed entrepreneurship, was expropriated at that time and forced to emigrate. However, the so-called “Aryanization” did not erase the values that shaped the company.

Today, Dreiturm still maintains close contact with the descendants of the Wolf family. Max Wolf, great-great-great-grandson of founder Aaron Wolf and grandson of the last owners, Ilse and Max Wolf, came from France to celebrate with Dreiturm and witness the renaming of the access road to the company as Ilse-Wolf-Straße. He believes that Dreiturm is “in good hands” with Lars Börgel as managing partner. 
Börgel took over the company in 2018 and has been running it ever since. “The company has made up for an investment backlog in the high single-digit millions” and since 2018 “created 50 to 60 jobs, more,” said Börgel, who took over the company from the Hedler family and has steered “Dreiturm” back on track over the past seven years.

A look back at the Nazi era shows that Dreiturm is more than just a commercial enterprise. The Jewish founding family Wolf, known for their socially committed entrepreneurship, was expropriated at that time and forced to emigrate. However, the so-called “Aryanization” did not erase the values that shaped the company. Normally, the state‘s minister of economic affairs would speak at a company anniversary celebration, but in Steinau, things were different. Hesse‘s Minister of the Interior, Prof. Dr. Roman Poseck, made it clear that “economic success can only be achieved through good internal security, and vice versa.” In his speech, Poseck referred to Dreiturm‘s cooperation with the German Armed Forces.

Finally, Dr. Nadine Beck and Dr. Matthias Georgi Neumann & Kamp Historische Projekte GbR from Munich presented a book in Dreiturm dark blue about the company‘s 200-year history, featuring many stories and pictures dating back to 1825. “Over the past year and a half, we have had the opportunity to research the history of the company in depth,” said Georgi, who made an important statement, not only for Dreiturm GmbH: “The history of a company should not be seen as a burden, but as an asset.” Representatives of GVS, Highclean, the then still existing Hypool Group, and the Mobiloclean Group in Steinau were present on behalf of the specialist trade partners. Lars Börgel promised another celebration with partners from the professional cleaning and hygiene industry. Just as Dreiturm moved from Schlüchtern to Steinau more than 90 years ago and from then on shaped the townscape on the hill above the town, the Dreiturm managers, Dreiturm employees, and guests later moved from the town‘s market hall to the Dreiturm location. Previously located at Dr. Rudolf-Hedler-Straße 1, it is now at Ilse-Wolf-Straße 1. That evening, the street was named after the last owner and benefactor from the family, and the new street sign was unveiled. Not only did the street get a new coat of paint for the event, but the façade was also repainted for the anniversary.

Text: Daniel Faust