Extranet

The establishing of the glue manufacturing company of Eberhard Stauf traces back to the year 1828 when Eberhard Stauf found himself and his tannery business in a very depressed economy as a result of the Napoleonic wars. He was in grave need of additional income and began recycling the animal skins and scraps left from the tannery for the production of glue.

In 1862, his son Wilhelm Stauf took over the tannery and glue factory and reformed the business by utilizing steam driven engines, a revolutionary move that shifted the emphasis of the business to modernized glue production and away from the tannery. The resulting increase in business volume was also augmented by the strong growth of the railway connections in the area.

In the year 1900, the brothers Ernst and Richard Stauf assumed leadership of the company and continued to improve the technical and manufacturing aspects of glue production by installing the most up-to-date technology available at the time. It was a drying tunnel, heated with steam and ventilated, that shortened the drying time of the glue tablets to only 10 days. The tannery business was abandoned even before the beginning of WW I due to the fact that the necessary dry glue leather had to be imported from overseas, and the distance from the major harbors like Rotterdam and Hamburg made transportation costs economically unfeasible. The picture shows the Stauf glue company at the beginning of the 20^th century.

WW I, devastating inflation and the ensuing world wide economic depression made the acquisition and importation of the raw materials for glue production very difficult and expensive. This continued dependence of the business on raw animal products was an untenable situation for Dr. Werner Stauf when he entered the company in 1930. Therefor, he made it his first and foremost task to develop a useable synthetic raw material that could replace the animal glue leather. Initially, those experiments showed little success, and they were further hindered by the shortage of needed raw materials that developed during WW II. In December 1944, the business was obliterated by fire when allied bombers attacked the city of Siegen and destroyed the entire plant, buildings and all. Rebuilding of the plant was not a feasible option due to non existent raw material and the absence of opportune markets for the products.

After the fire, Dr. Werner Stauf turned the make-shift kitchen in the remaining useable one bedroom home in his father’s house into a laboratory and continued his experiments to produce glue from synthetic raw materials. The resulting first cold glue "VISKOS" was initially used in the furniture and construction industries. Thereafter, he was able to manufacture a glue based on polyvinylacetate dispersions which was used as an adhesive for wood fiber sheets as flooring over concrete and cement sub floors. Ironically, during later years, the same parquet manufacturers who initially were extremely reluctant to use a "water glue" raved about the product and stated that this glue was exactly what was needed. So it was that in 1952 the dispersion based "Parquet Adhesive STAUF Rapid-M2A" was born which is still manufactured today, albeit in a somewhat modified and improved form. The development of this product was to a large extent responsible for the successful rebuilding of our company.

In 1961, Helmut Stauf joined his father in the business. Together they continued to modernize the company by combining all the individual smaller buildings under one roof and building a state of the art production site and roomy warehouse to accommodate the requirements for fast and flexible production and distribution. During that same time frame they also developed the first solvent based "Parquet Adhesive STAUF-WFR" in collaboration with parquet manufacturers. In this product, the long years of close contacts with and thorough experience in the parquet industry came to a marvelous fruition. The continued partnership of the minds and exchange of ideas between the company and the industry has since lead to the development of new and different products for laying of varnished parquet and end grain wood blocks, both of which require totally different properties in glue.

The decade of the 90s brought about a distinct prominence of urethane-based glues in the parquet industry. Stauf  developed several different adhesives to accommodate the growing varieties and user demands in the parquet market and to offer alternatives for difficult and risky flooring projects.

Environmental safety and health concerns for the workers as well as the consumers are always in the forefront of any developments. With this goal in mind a new kind of cement based powder adhesive was introduced in 2000. The product is shipped as a powder and mixed with water prior to use. It does not contain any solvents or VOC and has been tested and certified as "very low emission" according to the rules of the Emicode issued by the GEV.

After the unexpected death of Helmut Stauf in August 1998, the family owned company is now under the leadership of his wife Siegrid and his son Wolfgang. They - together with many long-time trusted employees - continue to develop, produce and market adhesives based on dispersions, solvents, urethane and cement. However, the emphasis of the business is still on competent advice and professional assistance for all of their valued customers, small or large, and the continued distribution of consistently reliable high quality adhesives.