At about the time, the German customs union was formed with the abolishment of trade barriers, the young entrepreneur established the first German oil plant in 1834 with vegetable resource as the main raw material.

1835: Start of the first railway in Germany. Very soon the railway organisation becomes BECHEM’s first important key customer.

1840: The wire drawing plants in the Altena area are key customers for BECHEM.

1870: Carl Bechem develops first mineral-oil based lubricant products; with technical know how, Bechem pioneers manufacturing of lubricants in Germany.

1895: As one of the first German companies BECHEM produces lubricants according to the “Stauffer greases”.

1909: BECHEM acquires the brand “Staroil” which is successfully used in the flying machine motors of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, e.g. type Z II and Z III.

1920: Range of BECHEM lubricants enhanced after feedback from Field Engineers and Customer’s technical requirements.

1930: Cooperation with the ball bearing plants in Schweinfurt. W 16, KS-28 and SN-28 are notable ball and roller bearings.

1948: As first German company BECHEM produces lubricating greases for most modern Timken roller bearings.

1952: BECHEM moves to its new facility in Hagen-Vorhalle, which is the current Global HQ

1973: BECHEM supplies broaching oils for the production of the Saturn transport device, Saturn V set for the Apollo spaceflight programme.

1974: BECHEM develops the first polyurea greases for lubrication points subjected to high temperatures in steel industry.

1981: Introduction of the seawater proof high-performance grease High-Lub SW 2.

1986: With the Avantin series BECHEM gets involved in the field of fully synthetic coolants for metal working.

1993: Berulit 935 forms the basis of the development of successful coating media in semi-hot forging.

1994: BECHEM supplies environmentally friendly rail lubricants for the Eurotunnel project.

2003: Global expansion is continued with own production facilities in China.

2005: BECHEM introduces a complete range of anti-friction coatings for automotive applications.

2010: First serial application of microcapsule technology in anti-friction coatings.

2011: Together with the Fraunhofer Institut IVV and the TU Braunschweig BECHEM wins the German Raw Material Efficiency Prize.

2012: The Fraunhofer team is awarded the Joseph-von-Fraunhofer prize for the development of the coolant Berufluid together with their industrial partner BECHEM

With our modern product programme BECHEM does not only offer solutions to face the challenges of the present, but also is a pioneer for innovative lubricant applications and technologies. A solid basis for this is our long tradition, our future-oriented business culture, decades of experience, close cooperation with scientific organisations, users and industrial partners as well as the outstanding know-how and commitment of our employees.