Founded as a tannery in 1849 by Heinrich Christian Heintze and Carl Johann Freudenberg, some 80 years later, the Freudenberg Group (external link) gave the go-ahead for one of the most important developments in sealing technology: the Simmerring. This marked the beginning of the company's diversification into a wide range of business areas and today it has developed into a globally operating technology company.
Karl Freudenberg was born on 29 January 1886 as the third son of Hermann Ernst Freudenberg, who managed the company in the second generation together with his brother, and grew up with nine siblings. He studied chemistry and, after holding various positions, was appointed to the chair of chemsitry in Heidelberg in 1926, which he held until his retirement in 1956. Freudenberg researched the structure of cellulose and its polymerisation principle. He was also the originator of the optical displacement theorem.
In 1926, he was accepted as a full member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He was Secretary of the Academy from 1943 to 1949.
Karl Freudenberg died on 3 April 1983 at the age of 98.
