An inventor and entrepreneur in the Swabian tradition, Alfred Kärcher was one of those inventor/entrepreneurs that Wurttemburg has brought forth in great numbers since the beginning of industrialization – illustrious names such as Robert Bosch and Gottlieb Daimier, or Count Zeppelin. They fought to realize their ideas with enormous diligence and commitment.

A former employee sees him in retrospect as follows: “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 the early Thirties Alfred Kärcher specialized in the design of industrial submersible heating elements, i.e. in salt smelters which were heated with immersion heaters. After numerous experiments, a hardening furnace for alloys was produced, the so-called “Karcher Salt-Bath Furnace”. 1,200 units were sold up to 1945.

Alfred Kärcher was not to enjoy the fruits of his great invention. The company founder died of a heart attack on 17th September 1959 at the age of 58. He left behind his wife Irene, his nine-year old son Johannes and his three year old daughter Susanna.

From the Heat Generators to High-Pressure Cleaners

“Heat from Winnenden / A Visit to Alfred Kärcher, Makers of Heat Generators” – that was the heading of an article that appeared in the “Rems Valley” magazine in November 1960. The report concludes: “Alfred Kärcher initially specialized almost exclusively in the development, manufacture and distribution of heating systems. The first hot water high-pressure cleaners must also be seen in this context.

Please click on the years in the timeline on the right side of this page to view the defining moments in Kärcher's history.