Kurt Herberts

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Kurt Herberts (born February 17, 1901 in Barmen ; † November 20, 1989 ) was a German chemist, entrepreneur and author. His paint company in Wuppertal, which he founded in 1927, he sold initially to a majority in 1972 and finally in 1976 with the remaining shares to Hoechst AG . In 1999, the US company DuPont acquired the company, which has been operating under the name Axalta since 2013. The company last employed 8,300 people in 37 production sites worldwide.

Life

Kurt Herberts was born on February 17, 1901 as the son of the entrepreneur Walter Herberts in Barmen, now part of Wuppertal. After graduating from high school, he began studying chemistry at the Technical University in Stuttgart and became a member of the Corps Teutonia Stuttgart . In 1922 he completed his studies as a graduate engineer . A year later he was awarded a Dr. Ing. PhD. He then went back to Barmen in 1924, where he founded his own company. In 1927 he merged with his father's lacquer and varnish boiler, which his grandfather Otto Louis had founded in Barmen in 1866. The range of products was soon expanded to include coach, decorative and floor varnishes. Special paints for locomotives and wagons were also added later.

Paint industry

After the merger of the two companies, Herberts took over management. He was instrumental in the development of new products and manufacturing processes, and so the company rose to become a leading company in the coatings and paint industry. From 1937 to 1944, Kurt Herberts commissioned well-known artists, including Willi Baumeister , Oskar Schlemmer , Franz Krause , Alfred Lörcher and Georg Muche , who had been ostracized by the National Socialists and banned from professions, to advertise his company. In the specially created painting technical center , the members of the Wuppertal working group examined the possibilities of in-house paints. He published several writings in which he treated painting, especially the technical and historical backgrounds. He also founded a collection of painting materials, which, however, was bombed in 1943 during the war. Instead, after the end of the war, he devoted himself to building up an extensive collection of East Asian lacquer art , for which he secured the support of many experts. During this time, his company developed significantly. After the war he had the architect Franz Krause build Herbert's villa in the south of Wuppertal, which he lived in until his death. It is now part of the Waldfrieden sculpture park, which opened in 2008 .

Herberts Industrieglas is a significantly smaller company that he founded together with his son Kurt-Dieter Herberts and that is still family-owned today.

Commitment and honors

Herberts was also involved in many initiatives in economic and social education . He set up an in-house school to combine general and vocational education. He also established the foundations named after him for the promotion of research and teaching in economic and social education as well as for the promotion of young entrepreneurs. In Wuppertal he was instrumental in setting up two Waldorf schools .

It was in recognition of his services in 1961 at the RWTH Aachen University with an honorary doctorate to the Dr. rer. nat. hc honored. Two years later he was made an honorary senator at the Technical University of Stuttgart . The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia awarded him the title of professor in 1965, and a year later he was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany . In 1969 Kurt Herberts was awarded the ring of honor of the city of Wuppertal .

In 1971 he was awarded the “Megalos-Stavros” (Great Cross for Merit) by the Holy Metropolis of Germany and the Exarchate of Central Europe. At the same time, Kurt Herberts was appointed honorary chairman of the Greek Orthodox community in Wuppertal ( Church of the Life Giving Source ).

Publications (selection)

  • 10,000 years of painting (1938)
  • Documents on the history of paint (1940)
  • Painting art in the technical age (1940)
  • Investigation into the applicability of historical painting methods (1941)
  • Beginnings of painting (1941)
  • Born from the painting technique (1942)
  • Walls and Mural (1953)
  • The painting techniques. Mediator between idea and design (1957)
  • The Book of East Asian Lacquer Art (1959)
  • Bridges to the Immortal (1961)
  • Responsibility in the industrial society (1971)
  • The Self-Alienation of the Occident (1977)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ February 1: Axalta Coating Systems becomes an independent company with a new name and identity.
  2. ↑ Obituary for Dr. Kurt Herberts Teutoniae Stuttgart . In: Die Wachenburg - news for Weinheimer Corps students , 38th year, 1990, issue 1, pp. 3-4.
  3. ↑ werner-steinbach.de: List of winners of the ring of honor of the city of Wuppertal ( Memento from February 21, 2004 in the Internet Archive ), accessed May 2008.
  4. ↑ Kurt Drees : Bridges to the Immortal . Naumann, Würzburg 1980, ISBN 3-88567-005-4 , p. 1980 (these dates are on the back of the book in his "Vita").
personal data
SURNAME Herberts, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur, founder of the Wuppertal paint company Herberts
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Barmen
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1989