The two brothers continued to follow in their father's footsteps by emphasizing on the company's research and development, ultimately expanding Heraeus's refining market exposure. This gave birth to the "first German platinum melting house" and made the Heraeus business grow far beyond its pharmaceutical roots.Īt the turn of the century, the sons of Wilhelm Carl Heraeus, Wilhelm and Heinrich Heraeus took over as managers of the company and in 1904, after their father's death, they inherited the company. Wilhelm invented his own oxyhydrogen gas-burner which brought industries from goldsmiths to chemical laboratories calling on him to use his methods for melting platinum. In his first successful experiment, he melted two kilograms of platinum. In 1856, through a series of experiments, Wilhelm Heraeus figured out how to melt large volumes platinum, without impurities, using a oxhydrogen gas flame. Several of these goldsmiths complained to Wilhelm Heraeus about their problems with melting platinum.Īt the time, goldsmiths were unable to produce a flame hot enough to melt platinum, platinum has a melting temperature of 1,769☌ (degrees Celsius), this is well above gold's melting temperature of 1,064☌. Goldsmiths in the area were perplexed because their customers were demanding platinum jewelry, but no one was able to melt platinum in large enough quantities to support demand. In the 1800's, Hanau, Germany was a town of goldsmiths.
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