100 years Rudolf Hensel GmbH | Paint and Varnish Factory
Manufacturer of fire protection systems made in Germany
Rudolf Hensel GmbH was founded in 1922 as a varnish and paint factory and had its headquarters at Süderstraße 235 in Hamburg until 2001. Initially, special ship colors formed the focus of the product range. This enabled the company to develop a leading market position in the 1950s. In the search for new challenges, Hensel recognized the increasing importance of preventive structural fire protection at this time and now devoted itself intensively to the development of fire protection coatings. As early as 1953, this competence was recognized in Germany with the first patents. National and international product certifications followed. The following milestones in the company’s history characterize the development of the traditional firm.
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Once again, Hensel can come up with a world first: HENSOTHERM® 2 KS AUSSEN is the first wood fire protection system for exterior use. HENSOTHERM® 2 KS AUSSEN is simply applied like normal paint with a brush, roller or sprayer. After drying, HENSOTOP SB, the topcoat for the system, must be applied to protect against weathering.
The fire test with the new high-performance product HENSOTHERM® B 2000 for concrete fire protection is so successful that Roland Roggon is able to walk on the concrete ceiling of the test furnace directly after the test, which had been exposed to temperatures of over 1000 °C from the underside for over 90 minutes shortly before.
Henceforth, HENSOTHERM® B 2000 is used in car parks and underground garages all over the world. In addition, a separate fire oven for fire tests on the fire behaviour of building materials and components according to DIN 4102 is put into operation on the company premises.
The move in 2001 to the new and current company headquarters in Börnsen, just outside the Hanseatic city of Hamburg, is accompanied by further investments in modern, larger production facilities and storage technology as well as a CHP plant. The site covers an area of over 20,000 square metres. In addition to the administration building, production and storage halls, there is also a technical centre equipped according to the latest standards. In addition to new and further development of steel fire protection systems for interior and exterior use, ablative fire protection coatings for cables are increasingly coming into focus.
With the site of the old Forest Brewery (Waldbrauerei) in Börnsen, a suitable new location with tradition was finally found. As early as 1891, the forest property on the former Dorfstraße and the old Hamburger Postweg was sold to the Waldbrauerei Bergedorf AG. The beer from Börnsen, brewed with the princely spring water, was even enjoyed in South Africa. In 1920, however, the brewing rights were sold to the Hamburg Holsten Brewery and production in Börnsen was discontinued. A year later, the Hamburg paint factory Holzapfel bought the area, which Hensel took over and modernized at the turn of the millennium.
A new era begins when Roland Roggon joins the company as managing partner. He has a vision to establish Hensel as the market and innovation leader for coating systems in passive structural fire protection and strives to expand the existing brands HENSOTHERM® and HENSOMASTIK® internationally. From 1999, Roland Roggon takes over sole management. The takeover goes hand in hand with investments in new production facilities, laboratory equipment and an adjustment of quality management to internationally recognised standards.
On 20 August 1997, Hensel is certified ISO 9001 for the first time and has had the high quality standards in the company certified by external auditors ever since. The globally recognised standard defines the minimum requirements for a quality management system. The focus is on optimising processes in order to continuously optimise the company’s performance and to meet customer requirements in the best possible way.
Through further in-house research and development, the company is once again launching new fire protection paints:
- HENSOTHERM® intumescent for the areas of wood and wood-based materials, steel components, cable coatings and cable insulation.
- HENSOMASTIK® as an ablative fire protection paint for cable coatings and fire protection partitions.
At the end of 1973, Rudolf Hensel handed the company over to his three sons, Hans -Rudolf, Konrad and Karl-Ludwig Hensel. In 1980, the 93-year-old company founder dies as a result of an accident.
Until 1973, production and the warehouse are expanded in parallel through constant new developments. A sales office is founded in Sweden and a trading partner is found in Switzerland, who also takes over distribution for Austria and Spain.
Since the garages on the premises were not affected during the night of the bombing, work can continue here under difficult conditions. In addition to trading in dyes, an agitator and a small paint roller are also set up so that a modest production of simple anti-corrosion paints can take place. After the return of the three sons of the company founder from the war, work on setting up the company begins immediately and by autumn 1951 the first phase of development is completed. With new additional products such as two-component coatings, hammer finishes, textured paints, stoving paints and fire protection paints, new customers can be won quickly. Soon the fire protection paints are patented under the brand name HENSOTHERM® in Germany, and shortly afterwards also in Norway and Denmark, so that exports to Scandinavia can also begin.