That year, to take advantage of the better transport links and sales opportunities, Henkel relocated his company to Düsseldorf on the Rhine.

[4] Düsseldorf was the gateway to the Ruhr region, which became the most important industrial area of the German Empire from the 19th century onward.

Within a year, sales of Henkel's Bleaching Soda outpaced production at the rented factory on the Schützenstraße in Düsseldorf.

[4] In 1883, to improve liquidity and make better use of the company's travelling sales staff, Fritz Henkel decided to sell merchandise in addition to his detergents.

Carl Pathe had gone to Vienna as a representative the year before, and in 1893, Henkel established its first business links with England and Italy.

He put Henkel's business on a sound footing, developed its already successful advertising further and was responsible for the company's field service.

In the previous year, Henkel had installed ball fields and play areas to encourage exercise during break times.

[7] In the following years, the Henkel company received several awards by the regime and was designated a National Socialist Model Enterprise by the Beauty of Labour organization.

Lüps was a fervent supporter of the National Socialist cause even before 1933 and used the fact that Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, was a distant paternal relative, to be promoted.

From 20 July, the British military government gradually granted permission for the production of adhesives, P3 and water-glass by Henkel, and for soaps and detergents as well as shoe polish by Thompson.

Over the years, other products were introduced under this brand, underlining Henkel's importance in the office and stationery supplies sector.

[18] The retirement of Albrecht Woeste, who had been member of the Committee since 1976 and its president since 1990,[19] marked the transition from the fourth generation of the Henkel family to the fifth.

[20] In 2014, Henkel offered to buy French-based laundry aids-to-shoe polish manufacturer Spotless for 940 million Euros (about $1.3 billion) in cash.

[29] With the acquisition of Nattura Laboratorios in 2017, Henkel also expands its footprint in the US and Latin American professional hair care market.

[31] In December 2017, Henkel also closes the acquisition of Shiseido's North American hair professional business, including brands like Joico and Zotos.

[32] In October 2019, Carsten Knobel was appointed to succeed Hans Van Bylen as CEO of Henkel as of 1 January 2020.

[34] Also in 2019 Henkel won an Innovation Award from the Adhesives and Sealants Council for "Loctite Universal Structural Bonders Powered by Hybrid Technology," which is a solution for OEM engineers looking for ways to improve assembly applications.

[35] Product Development Lead accepts ASC Innovation Award In 1992, Henkel published its first Environment Report.

[43] As a short-term goal until 2015, Henkel aims to achieve a 15 percent reduction per production unit in the focal areas energy, water and waste.

[49] Henkel's main competitors in its cleaning division are Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser.

[citation needed] The business unit offers a broad portfolio of adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings for both industry and consumers with brands like Loctite, Technomelt, Teroson, Bonderite, and Aquence, and consumers, craftsmen and building businesses with brands like Pritt, Loctite, Ceresit and Pattex.

[55] In 2018, Henkel also laid the cornerstone for a new global innovation center of its Adhesive Technologies business at the company's headquarters in Düsseldorf, investing more than €130 million.

In 2017, Henkel successfully launched #mydentity hair color together with Guy Tang, a leading hairdresser and social media influencer.

[57] In 2018, Henkel presented the Schwarzkopf SalonLab at CES – a digital hair salon experience using technology to customize products.

[59] Henkel's most famous brand is Persil, introduced in 1907, the first commercial "self-activated" laundry detergent, which means a bubble-forming bleach (sodium perborate) with a soap component (silicate).

Persil is the biggest brand for Henkel's Laundry & Home Care category, generating sales of more than 1 billion euros in 2017.

The company sells the liquid as a specialist detergent for abayas, the loose, traditionally black, robe-like garments worn by women in many Islamic cultures.