History

For 125 years, a pioneering spirit has been the basis of our success. In 1889, the company Schülke & Mayr GmbH was founded by Rudolf Schülke and Julius Mayr in Hamburg. The victory over the cholera epidemic in Hamburg in 1892 is owed to the first branded disinfectant in the world, lysol® that Schülke & Mayr GmbH developed.

In 1913, the company launched sagrotan® onto the market: the first branded household disinfectant. This was followed in 1924 by the first branded industrial biocide. The decades to come saw numerous other product launches and corresponding patents. 1972 was the year that the Rudolf Schülke Foundation was founded, to promote research and development in the areas of hygiene and microbiology. 1981 marked the starting point for schülke‘s mikrozid® product range which, today, is the leading fast-acting disinfectant for the medical sector.

In 1988, the 99th year of its existence, schülke founded its first subsidiary in Austria.
In 1990 octenisept® was launched. octenisept® is a mucous membrane and wound disinfectant which was, and continues to be, rated 'excellent' on numerous occasions by the German consumer association Stiftung Warentest. In 1996, the year it joined the Air Liquide Group, the company introduced its Quality and Environment Management System, validated by EMAS.

In 2008, the company defined its new Brand Identity: schülke – the plus of pure performance.
The professional partner for preservation and hygiene in the 21st century, schülke invests in the future of a globally active company and in the safeguarding of its Norderstedt site, close to Hamburg. Growing dynamically, we are working on continually expanding our role in the hygiene and infection prevention market.

In 2015, schülke welcomed the MICROSHIELD® Family of Products to its hygiene portfolio. This consists of the Healthcare Antisepsis Solutions (HAS) hygiene product line from Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP), a Johnson & Johnson company. With the addition of MICROSHIELD®, schülke looks forward to continuing on its mission: to fight disease and contamination before they emerge.