Merkur: The History of The Company and Its Razors

Merkur: the history of the company and its razors (especially focusing on safety razors)

Merkur is a leading manufacturer of razor blades and shaving accessories. It was established in 1896 by Emil Hermes in the town of Solingen in Germany. He named it Merkur after messenger of Gods-Mercury. He couldn’t register it in his own name of Hermes as there was already another company by that name in Solingen at the time, so he chose the Roman equivalent of “Hermes” to name his company. Merkur manufactures razor blades for men.

Wet razors were already in manufacture when Merkur began production. The first razors that Merkur made, were similar to others that were present in the market and had an inbuilt comb over which the blade was fixed. The blade was wedge shaped and removable. It was 4 centimeters long and resembled the regular straight razor blades. There was one drawback with these blades and that was the blade needed to be sharpened regularly, which was a palaver. The company looked for means of eliminating the need for sharpening the blades.

In the beginning of the 20th century, Merkur started to manufacture double edged razor blades. These blades were very similar to razor blades that are available today. The new razor blades were safer than the wedged blades, they caused lesser nicks and cuts than the older blades, and perhaps the best thing about these blades was that they didn’t need to be sharpened again. They were cheap and hence, disposable. When the blade became blunt, there was no need to hone them, they could just be replaced by sharp new ones.

Towards the latter half of 1920’s Emil Hermes’s two sons Erich and Hans started to work for the company. The company grew under the guidance of the two Hermes brothers. Merkur registered several patents for its inventions in razors and blades and launched the double edge blade razors. These were marked “Made in Solingen” and “Germany”. Merkur razor and blades had distinctive design and packaging and this tradition continues even today.

In the year 1957, Hans Hermes died and his share of the business was taken over by his son, Dietrich Hermes who headed Merkur together with his uncle Erich. Under their management, the company made huge strides in business. The next decade and a half were very profitable years. Erich Hermes died in the 70’s and following the death of his uncle, Dietrich sold the company. Over the next two decades the company changed hands twice before Merkur, company and the brand were bought over by Dovo, a company also based in Solingen, in 1996. Dovo was at that point of time, Merkur’s largest customer. Dovo is a leading manufacturer of scissors and straight razors. After the takeover, Merkur maintained its identity and became a part of the Dovo group, producing double edge blade razors and other shaving accessories under its own name of Merkur. The merger of the two companies created an atmosphere of innovation and creativity. New razor designs that were more in tune with changing tastes and times were introduced. There are three basic types of double edged safety razors available in the market today. These are the one piece or butterfly design, two piece design and the three piece design.