Dr. Otto Röhm (1876-1939) and businessman Otto Haas (1872-1960) were German leaders who shared much more than the same first name. In 1907 they partnered in the formation of the Röhm & Haas Chemical Company in Esslingen, Germany, introducing many groundbreaking products and building one of the most influential specialty chemical manufacturers in the world. The company is best known for the development of PLEXIGLAS®, a type of clear acrylic that is one of the world’s most familiar plastics brands.
Otto Röhm and Otto Haas founded the company in 1907 after Dr. Röhm had isolated enzymes and used them to create revolutionary products used in the leather tanning, laundry, textile, health care and food industries. In 1909 the successful young company moved to Darmstadt.
Otto Röhm was a true pioneer in the field of plastics. In 1915, he patented a polyacrylic ester as a paint binder. These formulations are still used today in paints and coatings worldwide. Dr. Röhm developed many acrylate compounds such as the shatterproof LUGLAS, used to make safety glass for car windows. Successes in the development of acrylates led Otto Röhm to methacrylates at the end of the 1920s. Röhm and his team’s most successful invention was the very versatile PLEXIGLAS® in 1933. At the 1937 World’s Fair, it won the Grand Prix and a gold medal. PLEXIGLAS® was used for airplane canopies and Jeep windscreens during WWII. Today, PLEXIGLAS ® is used in countless applications ranging from the automotive and lighting industry to household appliances, furniture manufacturing and medical products. Röhm holds the registered trademark PLEXIGLAS ® in the European, Asian and African continent. In the Americas, the trademark is owned by Trinseo.
Röhm became an honorary citizen of Darmstadt in 1922. Streets and public places in several German towns still bear his name. When Otto Röhm died in 1939, the company employed 1,800 people. After several changes in ownership, Röhm GmbH has been operating independently again since 2019, with its headquarters in Darmstadt. The company focuses on the production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) molding compounds.
Otto Haas brought his entrepreneurial expertise to the company, playing a key role in its development and international expansion. Otto Haas strongly promoted the expansion of the Röhm und Haas Chemical Company abroad, moving to Philadelphia in 1909 to set up and manage US operations. During World War I, the American division became an independent company. The Rohm and Haas Company in Philadelphia grew to become one of the most important chemical companies in the USA. Otto Haas ran it with a firm hand until his death in 1960. Otto and his wife Phoebe Haas made generous contributions to the Philadelphia community through the William-Penn Foundation, which they established in 1945. Dow, Inc. bought the specialty chemical assets in 2009.
Otto Haas at R&H Bristol, PA Plant circa 1920’s. Photo is courtesy of David Haas