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CELEBRATING 190 YEARS
190 Years of Excellence – A Heritage Worth Celebrating! 🎉 Join us as we honour nearly two centuries of innovation, dedication, and trust. Stay tuned for a year of special moments and celebrations!
A Legacy of Innovation
Our Journey from Textiles to Advanced Composites
Our story begins in 1835, when Georg Philipp Heberlein founds a small textile finishing business in Wattwil, Switzerland. From the very beginning, innovation was at the heart of our business. The company started as a craft business but grew into an industrial operation, starting with the use of synthetic dyes, then a garment dyeing plant in 1897, followed by a printing plant in 1916. Over the years, and led by four generations of the Heberlein family, we pioneered advancements in synthetic fibers and textile machinery, establishing a strong reputation in a burgeoning industry in Eastern Switzerland.
In 1929, we expanded into rubber and synthetic foam manufacturing with the creation of Gurit, a Heberlein-owned company, in Richterswil, Switzerland. Gurit was so named after the German for ‘Richterswil rubber factory’: ‘Gummiwerk Richterswil’. This new company lay the foundation for what would become a significant transformation for the business.
The textile and plastics divisions developed independently through the mid-1960s, both driven however by materials innovation.
After WW2, as natural fibers were in short supply, demand for artificial alternatives surged. Heberlein modernized and expanded its dyeing facilities, but it was the invention and patenting of Helanca—a method for adding stretch to synthetic fibers—that fueled major growth. By the late 1960s, our Wattwil plant employed over 2,500 people. However, a global synthetic fiber crisis in the 1970s led to the collapse of the textile division. Hans Huber and a bank consortium come to the rescue and the Huber family remains involved with our company today. Major restructuring followed, with the Helanca brand eventually sold to Saurer and the textile business gradually wound down.
Gurit, the plastics division, had a slow start in the 1930s, but flourished after WW2. By 1960, we employed some 700 people, producing plastic goods of all kinds, from raincoats to vinyl flooring.
In 1965 the Gurit Essex division was added (a joint venture between Gurit and Essex Chemical), followed by the 1967 acquisition of Coltane (who specialized in dental products), plus the Ariva textile group, and Worbla film manufacturer. By the early 1970s we had outgrown our current facility in Richterswil and relocated to Freienback.
In partnership with Essex Chemical, Gurit helped transform the automotive industry with innovations like direct bonding for glass and advanced sound-damping materials. As the global car market evolved, we sold our stake to Dow Chemical in 2000. This allowed us to focus on health care and composite materials. The cash injection enabled the well-executed closure of the struggling textiles business, with a further 13 years needed to complete the thorough demolition, clean up and sale of the land.
The 2000s marked a period of strategic growth. We acquired companies specializing in aerospace, marine, wind energy, and other high-performance sectors, bringing depth of expertise and breadth of experience in materials such as prepregs, epoxies, core materials, engineering services, tooling, and kitting. These acquisitions strengthened our position as a global leader in performance materials. In 2006, we further sharpened our focus by listing our health care division, Medisize, as an independent company on the SIX Swiss Exchange, with Gurit Holding AG’s sole focus now advanced composite materials.
Today, with 28 sites worldwide, we continue to push the boundaries of innovation in advanced composites. Our materials empower industries to achieve greater energy efficiency and performance. Committed to sustainability and forward-thinking solutions, we partner with our clients in the wind, marine, transportation, construction and other sectors to shape a smarter, more sustainable future.
Partnering for innovation. Committed to sustainability.
