Brenntag

Founding

Brenntag was founded on 9 October 1874, in Berlin by the Jewish merchant Philipp Mühsam (14 November 1848 – 17 May 1914) under his own name. At first, the company Philipp Mühsam was an agricultural wholesale business, whose most successful product was eggs. In 1879, Philipp Mühsam entered the trade of pharmaceutical raw materials, the so-called ‘drugs.’ By 1881, according to the sources, the company was distributing chemicals, dyes, drugs and also agricultural products, though the latter only in small quantities. In November 1923, the founder’s son, Dr. Kurt Mühsam (31 December 1887 – 20 March 1928), together with his business partner Julius Herz, converted the company into a joint stock corporation.

National Socialism and post-war period

Julius Herz, who after Kurt Mühsam’s death owned 91% of the share capital of Philipp Mühsam AG, presented a sales offer for the company to the entrepreneurs Hugo Hermann Stinnes and Otto Stinnes on Christmas Eve 1936. On 20 February 1937, the sale of all shares in Philipp Mühsam AG was contractually finalized. Julius Herz, also Jewish, was able to emigrate to the USA on 22 September 1937, after completing all contractual formalities. In 1937, the company, now part of the Stinnes corporate group, was renamed ‘Brennstoff-, Chemikalien- und Transport-Aktiengesellschaft,’ and a year later, it was renamed ‘Brenntag.

On 17 September 1949, Julius Herz, who had in the meantime changed his name to Julius Hart, filed a restitution claim with the Central Office of the British Zone for Compensation. He sought compensation for the too-low sale price of Philipp Mühsam AG. On 1 September 1950, the lawyers of Hugo Hermann Stinnes, his brother Otto, and Julius Hart signed a settlement agreement. Julius Hart then received a payment of 720,000 DM to settle his restitution claim.

In 1950, Brenntag expanded operations by adding inorganic and organic chemicals, solvents, plastics, resins and specialty chemicals to its product line. In the following years, Brenntag also distributed fuels (carburettor fuels, diesel fuel and heating oil) from Ruhrbau GmbH, which was also a Stinnes company.