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Kärcher: a brief history...

Kärcher GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 1935 by a young German engineer named Alfred Kärcher and since 1939, head office has been based in Winnendin, near Stuttgart in Germany.

The business originally produced submersible electric heaters and other specialised equipment for industry. From conception, the company gained a reputation for design and innovation. The first patent was for The Kärcher Salt-Bath Furnace, a device for hardening alloys. It has always been a family run business.

The focus of the business changed after the second world war, and with only around 30 employees, Alfred Kärcher set about rebuilding the company by making a diverse range of everyday products to satisfy the daily needs of war torn Europe: iron stoves from artillery shells, kitchen stoves, hand carts, etc. A former employee once said "When Alfred Kärcher was in his element, when we were running trials and tests, the atmosphere was simply exciting. He just couldn't be stopped, he had a constant stream of new ideas."

In 1950 Kärcher patented Europe's first high pressure hot water cleaner. The US forces had continual problems maintaining their old, unreliable steam cleaning units, and after repairing many machines, Alfred came up with a better solution: the KW 350.

The company has been leading the industry in the development, manufacture and distribution of high-pressure cleaners and steam heat systems ever since.

Unfortunately, Alfred Kärcher died in 1959 from a heart attack. This left the direction and vision of the company to his wife, Irene, who steered the company to what it is today.

In the 1970's Kärcher focused on the development, production and distribution of cleaning technology and equipment. And in 1984 the company produced the first pressure washer designed for the domestic market.

In 2009, the product range includes high pressure water cleaners, vacuum cleaners, sweepers, scrubbers, specialised carpet cleaning equipment, automated vehicle washes, water treatment, waste water treatment, and military equipment.

Sales are more than 1.4 billion Eros annually, and the company directly employs more than 6,500 people globally.

Controversy

In some countries such as United Kingdom, France, Poland, or Mexico, Kärcher is now colloquially synonymous with a cleaning system using high pressure water. "I'll just Kärcher it".

Quote from Wikipedia
"French politician Nicolas Sarkozy once declared that La Courneuve, a banlieue outside of Paris where a boy was killed by a stray gunshot, would be "cleaned out with a Kärcher" (nettoyer la cité au Kärcher) — meaning all criminals and other undesirables should be removed and washed out. This comment was highly controversial, as many French associate the banlieues with immigrants, especially North Africans. Sarkozy's use of the word led to it becoming a verb: "to Kärcher" or "Karcherize". Presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen told residents of Argenteuil, many of them immigrants, "If some want to Karcherize you, to exclude you, we want to help you get out of these ghettos."

As a response, Kärcher France sent a letter to all of the candidates in the 2007 presidential election asking them not to use the company's name this way, and has run ads in newspapers disassociating itself from the remarks."

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