Street:Waldershofer Str. 49-51 D-95615 Marktredwitz (Germany)
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About us
Welcome To Our Site!
Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch e.K. has been existing in its current version for almost fifteen years now. The beginnings, however, go back more than 200 years to the roots of chemical industry in Europe and particularly in Germany. July 24, 1788 is said to have been the birthday of the Chemical Factory W.C. Fikentscher from which cfm Oskar Tropitzsch emerged in 1985. But let′s go back to the beginnings: founded by Wolfgang Caspar Fikentscher in 1788 the Chemical Factory was the first chemical factory in Germany.
In those days chemistry meant alchemy or "the art of trying". Apart from the production of chemicals for the glass industry and glass itself the wish to produce gold from cheap raw materials made Fikentscher work with mercury as early as 1790. He did not obtain gold but a wide knowledge of the fungicide effect of the mercury combination which was to be of great importance for his firm′s future.
Fikentscher himself had trained to be a pharmacist′s assistant and put his masters′plan to establish a chemical factory, into effect. Owing to his education he knew which products the "market" required then, and therefore the firm grew very fast. Even in those days the connections spread world-wide and were not limited to the region.
Despite the situation at the beginning of the 19th century when there were no trains, motor vessels, cars, telephones, gas or electricity Fikentscher managed to import potash from Chile, which was transported to Hamburg by sea and upstream the Elbe River until it was finally carried to Marktredwitz by horse and cart through the mountain range of the Erzgebirge.
In 1822 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited the firm. This visit emphasizes the importance the Chemical Factory had in those days. Supported by the Fikentscher family, Goethe carried out several experiments in Marktredwitz and was able to confirm his famous theory of chromatics.
1890 marked the year of new beginnings. Roughly 100 years after its foundation the Chemical Factory was sold to two brothers, Oskar Bruno Tropitzsch and Curt Bernhard Tropitzsch by W. C. Fikentscher′s descendants. In order to maintain the company, they had to have an idea and came to the conclusion that limiting their product range and specializing in the field of mercury preparations might change their situation for the better. Due to this idea the small factory had become the most important producer of these specialist products by 1914.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, fungal diseases in grain were causing considerable problems in agriculture. This led to crop failures of up to 90% in Europe and famines with thousands of people dying of starvation. Consequently, research was carried out into finding a fungicide to reduce the enormous shortfalls. In 1907 the Chemical Factory Marktredwitz was producing the first mercurial disinfectant (Fusariol) which fought mould and was able to safeguard and increase yield.
Since this time there have been no more nature-related famines in Western Europe!
In 1931 the Chemical Factory Marktredwitz went public and was renamed CFM AG. During the following years the connections all over the world, as well as the product range were expanded and intensified.
The latest change took place in 1985, when Oskar Tropitzsch established cfm, which took over "goodwill" and "know how" from CFM AG.
cfm Oskar Tropitzsch transferred the production of CFM AG to various contractors. The product range has been increased considerably and now includes a large variety of products for analytic, biotechnology as well as the pharmaceutical industry. Even as a trader cfm is closely connected with production by different holdings and is internationally known as a specialist in the search for rare and special chemicals.
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