Twenty-Five Facts about the Father of Fibre Cement
Ludwig Hatschek
1) The inventor of Fibre Cement was born on Thursday 9th October 1856 in Tostitz (now Tesetice) -near Olmutz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic) to brewery owner Filipp Hatschek (1824-1908) and his wife Sofia (nee Scheuer).
2) He was the oldest of 6 children.
3) Aged 10, he moved with his family to Linz, where his father and uncle bought the city pub sited along the Danube in 1869, calling it the “Brothers Hatschek Tavern”
4) He was seemingly destined for a career in brewing (the family trade) and studied at the world-famous brewery school in Weihenstephan near Munich. Also, the world’s oldest brewery.
5) On graduating, he joined his father’s business "Linzer Aktienbrauerei und Malzfabrik", one of the predecessors of the current Brua Union.
6) He was an accomplished ice skater and billiards player, and a keen cyclist!
7) He combined his work with a love of globetrotting and travelled extensively.
8) In 1889 Ludwig married Rosa Wurzburger, daughter of Eduard Wurzburger - owner of the bank and exchange house in Vienna.
9) The couple had 4 children: Johann, Margarete, Dora, and Hans.
10) He fell out with his brother-in-law Ludwig Weib over the administration of the family brewery and, on receiving a pay-out of 100,000 guilders, left the company and went searching for a new career!
11) Whilst Ludwig was traveling around England (circa 1892/93) on his commercial research, his wife (tasked with scouring newspaper advertisements for potential buildings for sale), identified a disused paper mill in Schondorf (near Vocklabruck) suitable for their business premises, which he purchased in 1893.
Image: Eternit
12) Here Ludwig devoted himself to inventing a fireproof, durable building material, that would be weatherproof and ideal for roofing, and a worthy replacement for the highly flammable thatched and wooden roofs that were common at that time.
13) For seven long years he experimented before finally, in 1900, his labours came to fruition, and he was able to apply for a patent on his asbestos cement product, which combined asbestos with Portland cement as a binding agent. (This was obviously long before asbestos was recognized to be a very dangerous product!)
14) He named his business the "First Austrian-Hungarian Asbestos Factory Ludwig Hatschek",
15) In 1903 he came up with the brand name “Eternit” * for his roofing and cladding panels, registering his patent as Austrian Patent Number 5970.
*a neologism referring to the Latin word Aeternus = eternal, everlasting.
16) His invention took the industry by storm, securing major contracts with the government (particularly the state railways) providing roofing for stations.
17) Ludwig did not establish factories abroad (with the exception of Nyergesújfalu near Esztergom in Hungary) preferring to earn his fortune through revenue from royalties and production licenses sold worldwide.
18) By 1910 there were Eternit factories established in many lands, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Sweden. Further afield, there were factories in the USA and Canada. Eternit became the covering of choice for roofs the world over.
19) Around 1910/1911 Ludwig relocated the company offices and his residence to Linz. His villa (the Hatschekvilla) was adjacent to a sand and stone desert on the Bauernberg, which he had developed into a spacious park (the funding for this three-year project came entirely out of his own pocket. Circa 1910-1913).
The park and its amenities are still enjoyed by the residents of Linz to this day!
Image: Komoot.com
A monument to Ludwig in the park
Image: stadtgeschichte.linz.at
20) His philanthropic outlook also prompted him to build housing for his workers in Vocklabruck.
21) He became ill in 1910, and his sickness forced him to convalesce in Nice, Meran, and in a sanatorium near Munich.
22) He was made an honorary citizen of the city of Linz on April 22nd, 1914 with the citation "in grateful recognition of his outstanding services to the beautification of our city by creating extensive facilities on the farmer's hill".
23) Finally, in a terminally ill state he returned home to the magnificent Art Nouveau Hatschekvilla and died on Wednesday 15th July 1914, aged 57.
24) His son Hans (who took over the business and also built a hospital in Vocklabruck) commented "He knew each of his workers very well, as well as their circumstances, their worries and suffering, and helped personally and quietly wherever he could. He had iron nerves, diligence and perseverance."
25) Eternit, now part of the multinational Etex Group has been producing Fibre Cement profile sheeting for over a century, predominantly as roofing material for agricultural buildings, and the Eternit name has become a generic term for profiled sheeting throughout Europe.
Image: Eternit
Here at STS we are are in prime position to truly appreciate all the great features and benefits that this brilliant product provides.
In it's modern make up, this environmentally friendly, hazard free product is a simple mix of just sand, cement, cellulose fibres and water.
But it really is a commodity of such calibre and versatility that we have been able to bring some market leading concepts to fruition using it, including our ever popular NoMorePly® Tile Backing Board, our 9mm and 12mm Render Ready Multiple Application Board and our seminal 18mm and 22mm TG4® direct to joist floorboards.
Truly The Ultimate Surface®
So its' hats off to Mr Hatschek for his great invention, and we feel certain that if he were here today he'd be amazed at the way we have developed and refined it and taken it to levels that he would be mightily impressed by!