Historedia
EuropeEvent

Friedrich Bayer founds the Bayer chemical company in Barmen

When
1863–1878
Where
Barmen; Barmen (origin of move; destination Elberfeld outside allowed places)
Episodes
2

Friedrich Bayer, born Friedrich Beyer, founded a dyestuff factory in 1863. The company was registered in Barmen on August 1, 1863, as a partnership with Johann Friedrich Weskott. The firm later relocated to Elberfeld in 1878, becoming the nucleus of the modern Bayer Group.

Episodes

  1. 1 August 1863 · BarmenCommercial Registration in Barmen

    The partnership was registered in Barmen on August 1, 1863, as Friedr Bayer et comp., marking the official start of the company.

  2. 1866–1878 · Barmen (origin of move; destination Elberfeld outside allowed places)Headquarters Relocation

    The company moved production in 1866 and relocated its headquarters to Elberfeld in 1878, following compensation demands from neighbours.

Background and detail

Background. Friedrich Bayer was born as Friedrich Beyer, the son of a silk weaver. He changed his surname to Bayer in his early twenties to avoid association with a fraudulent merchant. At age fourteen, he began an apprenticeship at a chemical trading company in Barmen, laying the groundwork for his future industrial ventures.

Partnership and Registration. Bayer partnered with Johann Friedrich Weskott, a master dyer. The two began experimenting with coal-tar dyes in 1861. Their business, initially known as Friedr Bayer et comp., was formally entered into the local commercial register on August 1, 1863, establishing the foundation of the company.

Relocation to Elberfeld. Due to high compensation demands from neighbors, Bayer and Weskott moved production in 1866. In 1878, the company headquarters were relocated to Elberfeld, a flourishing city in the Wupper Valley. This move solidified the company's presence in the industrialized region, though the founding registration occurred in Barmen.

People involved

Sources

  1. Friedrich Bayer Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-18
  2. Bayer Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.