Our History

Join us on a journey through over 100 years of history. A success story from 1914 to the present day – with groundbreaking innovations and pioneering ideas to forge ahead in the 21st century.

2023

Anniversary:

30 Years of WACKER in China

Along with business partners and government representatives, WACKER celebrated the 30-year anniversary of its subsidiary in China. What began as sales offices has long since developed into an extensive network of production, research and service sites. WACKER now employs a staff of around 1,700 in China.

30 Jahre Wacker in China
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
2019

Expansion in South Korea

After a 20-month construction phase, Wacker Chemie AG starts up a new spray dryer for producing dispersible polymer powders in Ulsan, South Korea. The new facility is part of the site’s ongoing expansion to increase the company’s production capacity for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders in Asia.

braune Säcke mit der Aufschrift VINNAPAS®
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2010
2009

Commissioning of Production Plant for Dispersible Polymer Powders in Nanjing

The Nanjing plant can produce 30,000 metric tons of polymer powders a year, and is the largest of its kind in China. WACKER is the sole supplier of polyvinyl-acetate-based polymer dispersions and dispersible polymer powders with production sites on all three key continents.

The Singapore plant
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004
1998

A New Site in Saxony, Eastern Germany

By purchasing a plant in Nünchritz, Saxony, WACKER acquired an important new site for silicones – and created ideal conditions for the production of innovative silicone products. Over the following decade, the site was gradually expanded. Today, it is one of the three WACKER sites worldwide that produce hyperpure polycrystalline silicon.

The Nünchritz plant
  • 1998
  • 1992
  • 1990
1987

Founding of DRAWIN Vertriebs-GmbH

In May 1987, DRAWIN Vertriebs-GmbH was founded as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wacker Chemie AG. It took over some areas of WACKER SILICONES business division's logistics and distribution planning. DRAWIN’s product range now includes around 1,000 different silicone products supplied in over 100 countries worldwide. Its strengths are fast shipping, flexible combination of different types and quantities of products, and a wide, readily available product range.

Drawin Vertriebs GmbH
  • 1987
  • 1985
  • 1983
  • 1980
1978

The Birth of Siltronic

Wacker Siltronic Corporation was founded in Portland, Oregon, USA, for the manufacture and sales of semiconductor raw materials. The name Siltronic was used here for the first time.

Manufacturing semiconductor raw materials
  • 1978
  • 1974
  • 1972
  • 1970
1968/69

Founding of Wacker Chemitronic Gesellschaft für Elektronik-Grundstoffe mbH

This later became Siltronic. Two new full-scale production plants with distillation columns more than 50 meters high went into operation manufacturing hyperpure polysilicon and distilling the starting product trichlorosilane.

The premises of Wacker Chemitronic Gesellschaft für Elektronik-Grundstoffe mbH
  • 1968/69
  • 1965
  • 1960
1957

New facilities and buildings were erected, including a 19-meter-high crude silane column and a tank farm for pure and intermediate products in Burghausen. In the decade between 1957 and 1967, annual sales generated from silicon-based plastics increased almost fivefold to 37.8 million deutschmarks.

Crude silane column
  • 1957
  • 1953
1947

Research Work into Silanes and Silicones Begins

Following his lecture on “Plastics Containing Silicon,” the young chemist Dr. Siegfried Nitzsche was hired on the spot. He later became the father of WACKER silicones. In 1949, Nitzsche and his colleagues successfully synthesized silane for the first time. Soon after, the first silane furnace was up and running.

Research
  • 1947
  • 1945
  • 1944
1939

The Outbreak of World War II

Following the outbreak of the second World War, nearly all WACKER operations were deemed important for the war effort. This meant that production of base chemicals such as acetylaldehyde, acetic acid and chlorinated solvents continued unabated. Especially important during this time was the manufacture of high-quality metal alloys such as ferrochrome or ferrosilicon at the then WACKER plants in Mückenberg and Tschechnitz.

  • 1939
  • 1935
  • 1930
1922

Production of Intermediate and End Products from Acetic Acid

A bestseller that was in production for almost 100 years. Acetic anhydride is used for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and crease-resistant textile fibers. Production stopped in 1997.

People at work
  • 1922
  • 1918–22
1917

Start of Acetone Production

With 450 employees, the factory began producing acetone from acetic acid in Burghausen in the middle of the First World War. Suddenly acetone became important for the war effort: it was used to make synthetic rubber for sealing submarine batteries. This was the starting point on the trajectory to becoming an international chemical company.

Acetone production
  • 1917
  • 1916
  • 1914