Foundation and origins

As early as 1874, Friedrich Wilhelm Klever, a lawyer with economic talents, founded F.W. Klever chemical factory in Cologne. He began with the production of coal-based oils and fats and shortly afterwards acquired a mine in order to be independent of raw material supplies.

The company achieved its breakthrough at the turn of the century, when the imperial army needed an all-round oil with very special properties: a universal oil suitable for all materials of a weapon - for cleaning, care and preservation of the metal parts, the wooden stocks and the leather straps. At the same time, it was to serve the soldiers as wound oil for minor injuries, cracks and abrasions.

In 1904, the formulation of such a universal oil was successful. The son of the company's founder, Dr. Helmut Klever, who was then a lecturer in chemistry at the Technical University in Karlsruhe, developed the special oil with all the desired properties. The new universal oil was called "Ballistol", after the words "ballistics" and the Latin "oleum" for oil. From 1905 onwards, Ballistol Universal Oil was used in the German Army and, thanks to its surprising versatility, became increasingly known as the "miracle oil" in the years to come.

In the following years, millions of consumers experimented with Ballistol Universal Oil and found new, surprising applications again and again. After the Second World War, which only the branch factory in Leverkusen survived, the sites in Cologne and Krefeld were abandoned. In 1971, the young chemist Dr. Heinrich Zettler joined the company and from then on headed it as managing director.

Dr. Heinrich Zettler recognised the potential of the BALLISTOL brand and took over the company together with his wife Herta after the death of Jenny Klever in 1989. Little by little they built it up into an economically sound and globally operating brand manufacturer.

In 2006, Dr. Heinrich Zettler handed over the company to his sons Dr. Christian Zettler and Andreas Zettler, who today run BALLISTOL GmbH.