Company History

During his time at Bayer Farbwerke in Elberfeld, the young Heinrich Seitz worked with the recently discovered aniline dyes. Although only 27 years old, he recognized the enormous economic importance for the textile finishing and left, convinced of his idea and with a keen eye for a businessopportunity, the security of a large company and founded his own company in 1885.

The "Aniline Color Factory Business" at Gutleut-Strasse in Frankfurt grew steadily as the dyeing industry quickly discovered the benefits of the new synthetic colors compared to traditional pigmenting processes. Soon he offered a whole range of supplies for professional textile dyeing.

Two years later his younger brother Fritz Seitz joined the company. Since then,Aniline colors have been further developed, constantly improved, and by the end of the century, the "Aniline Color Factory Business" has already exported many of its products to other European countries.

"We have had a lucky hand.", Heinrich Seitz noted at the time. "We were always able to offer our customers thelatestdevelopmentsfirst." When Fritz Seitz died in 1905, Heinrich's eldest son, Hermann Seitz, joined the company. The business further expanded: in 1906 they opened their first store in Berlin and in 1910 the company moved into its own premises in Frankfurt Sachsenhausen.

When in 1922 the founder Heinrich Seitz died at the age of 63, his widow and Hermann Seitz took over the management of the company. Her son, Dr. Alexander Seitz, doctorate chemist (PhD), also joined the company and became co-owner in 1928. By this time Seitz had long had an international reputation in the field of dye mixtures, which were specifically tailored to the needs of textile dyeing. Due to the steadily growing number of customers in Germany and abroad and the excellent development of the company, in 1940 a new company premises was acquired in Frankfurt Niederrad.

However, the outbreak of World War II prevented the construction of the new factory building. In 1944, the factory and storage facilities were almost completely destroyed by an air raid, but with great difficulty the operation could be continued over the next 5 years and the company gradually rebuilt. The upswing of the post-war period involved an enormous need for coloring and recoloring textiles and therefore also an economic revival for the Seitz company. As a result, the production sites had to be increased again, which is why they moved to Frankfurt Niederrad.

When Hermann Seitz died childless in 1958, his nephew Berthold Runge took his place. Three years later, Dr. Alexander Seitz withdrew from business and handed over his place to his son Walter Seitz, a textile engineer. The declining need for dyes and the increasing demand for chemical textile cleaning in the sixties and seventies required a quick response to the changing market.

Intensive research and development in the in-house laboratories gave SEITZ the flexibility to meet the new requirements and to establish a broad range of high quality products for dry cleaning as well as a number of special leather and carpet cleaning products in the market.

SEITZ also quickly gained international prominence in this area of expertise, and its steadily growing production led to another relocation. In Kriftel, a small community on the outskirts of Frankfurt in immediate vicinity of Frankfurt Airport, the perfect location for a modern chemical company with the best conditions for research, production and administration was found. Since 1974 this is the company headquarters.

When Berthold Runge withdrew from the business in 1989, his son Alexander Runge followed him as Managing Director.Alexander Seitz, the son of Walter Seitz, joined the company four years later as Marketing Manager and also became Managing Director in 1996. In 1998 the first American branch office opened in Tampa (Florida) to better serve the US and Canadian markets.