Wella history

Franz Ströher's three younger sons were killed, and Franz Ströher himself, almost broken by the events, left the management increasingly to his sons Karl and Georg, and took the less active role of senior partner until he died in 1936.

In the years before 1938 the company established many subsidiaries, and a manufacturing plant was set up in Plauen, Vogtland.

In September 1945, at the Hotel Krone, the reconstruction of the business began on a very small scale in Huenfeld, Osthessen, under the new name of Ondal GmbH. The brothers stayed for the time being in Rothenkirchen.

1950 – The company branches into hair care with the launch of Koleston, a nourishing hair balm.

1972 – Wella Balsam is launched, its first shampoo for retail sale.

In 1973 the day-to-day running of the group was entrusted to directors, who were not members of the founding family.

The family members concentrate their capacities on supervising and advisory activities. It was due to these changes that in 1978 Wella's worldwide sales passed DM1 billion for the first time, and have continued to rise ever since.

In 1983 Wella turned to the stock market in a move to adjust its capital structure to cope with its rapid growth.

In February 1990, political changes in East Germany brought about the reintegration of the Rothenkirchen plant into Wella in the form of a joint venture which was to produce and market hairdressing products and equipment in Germany and other European markets.

2002 – The first Wella TrendVision global hairdressing competition takes place.

2011 – Wella partners with Unicef to found the Making Waves program, which teaches both life and hairdressing skills to underprivileged youth around the world.

Possibly its most significant innovation came in 2014 with the development of ME+, a substitute for p-phenylenediamine (PPD). PPD is a popular compound used in hair dye to fix the color.

2015 – Wella celebrates an amazing 130 years in the hair care industry.