Pierre Berthier

In 1807, the Englishman Davy discovered aluminium. At Les Baux in 1821, the Frenchman Berthier came across bauxite ore, the raw material for industrial aluminium production.

Friedrich Wöhler

Pure aluminium particles were isolated for the first time in 1845 by the Göttingen Professor Friedrich Woehler. He was able to determine its main properties such as density, conductivity, corrosion resistance, etc.

It was only in 1886 - when Hall / Héroult received a patent for the electrolysis - that aluminium could be produced in larger quantities leading to lower aluminium prices. Research was thus able to improve the properties of aluminium, e.g. by using alloys.

In just 100 years, aluminium has developed from an expensive luxury into a versatile and widely used metal. Aluminium`s attractiveness is reflected by its increasing global demand. Consumption has more than doubled since 1970. In the future a significant increase is anticipated.

Bauxite - the raw material for aluminium production for centuries

• third most common element of the earth's crust,
• "Alum", aluminium was used for medicines and vegetable dyes as early as 2000 BC,
• pure aluminium particles "as big pinheads" were isolated for the first time by the Goettingen Professor Friedrich Woehler in 1845