Courage and success require constant self-reinvention.

In May 2018 a new production site was inaugurated in Salt Lake City/Utah. Therefore, Oemeta is better prepared to satisfy the requirements of the market. The third production site is a milestone in the history of Oemeta and another sign for the steady growth and the internationality of the company.

In 1916, in the middle of the First World War, the company began producing “drilling oils” for metalworking in Berlin. In 2016, the company celebrates its 100th anniversary. On Saturday 1 July 2016, Oemeta opens its doors to customers, neighbours, Oemeta associates and their families. Around 1,500 visitors celebrate the anniversary in a relaxed atmosphere.

The tank storage capacities at the Oemeta headquarters and production site in Uetersen are being expanded.

As the first chemical company in Schleswig-Holstein, Oemeta introduces the occupational safety management system "Safe with System" and receives an award for it.

Oemeta receives environmental management certification according to DIN EN ISO 14001.

Establishment of Oemeta USA in Delaware, current headquarters Salt Lake City, Utah and establishment of Oemeta Canada in Ingersoll, Ontario.

First certification according to DIN EN ISO 9001.

The shares of the Winkler family are sold to the Vester family, descendants of the founding Däbritz family

At the end of 1992, the Abrasives Division is sold to Hermes Schleifmittel GmbH & Co KG with the aim of concentrating on the Cooling Lubricants Division and internationalisation. The number of employees drops from 144 to 50. The export ratio is below 20% at this point.

Expansion of the business with the addition of extra laboratory capacity (extension and conversion). The first synthetic, mineral oil-free and semi-synthetic products (Frigidol, Frigilux) and products with low mineral oil content (Oemeta Universal, Frigomet) are launched on the market, offering much greater stability in application than the classic drilling oils.

Production facilities for grinding tools are built on the site in Uetersen. Some employees who are already working at the Bötzow plant move to Uetersen for a fresh start, forming the core of staff involved in the production of grinding tools. In 1953, the company headquarters are moved from Mannheim to Uetersen and the grinding tool production facility is also relocated to Uetersen.

In search of a production site, the company finds what it is looking for in Uetersen, Schleswig-Holstein. Production of cooling lubricants starts on premises rented from the company Hermann Behrendt, Ossenpadd, Uetersen. At nearly the same time, the production of grinding tools starts at Hafenbahnstrasse 30, Mannheim.

Operations get going again in Unterschlechtbach (Waiblingen district), at temporary premises rented from Hahn & Kolb company. Expansion of the shareholder base to include the Winkler family, bringing the total number of shareholders to three. In Mannheim, permission is granted for the production of abrasives and in Hamburg for the production of cooling lubricants. Since it lacks its own machinery and equipment, Oemeta agrees with Ölwerke Julius Schindler GmbH Hamburg to have cooling lubricants produced on a contract basis. The company is now based in Mannheim.

In the picture: Shareholders (from left to right) Dr. Schmitz-Lammers, A. Däbritz, E. Winkler

In the course of the fighting, the company’s sales and administrative offices in Berlin, Uhlandstrasse/Kurfürstendamm are completely destroyed. The Bötzow factory is requisitioned and dismantled by the occupying forces. The shareholders are expropriated without compensation and flee to West Germany.

Acquisition of the site in Bötzow-West (approx. 8 km northwest of the Berlin city border), along with the buildings of the former Berlin waste utilisation company. Change of name to OEMETA Chemische Werke GmbH.

Oemeta offered drilling oils as well as ceramic- and resin-bonded grinding tools. With this combination of products, the company was able to achieve efficient production processes in rapidly developing industrial mass production.

Gustav Däbritz and Otto Schmitz establishes Oemeta GmbH in Berlin on 16 December 1916 with the aim of “producing and selling oils, oil substitutes and fats”.

The company name is created from the German words for “oil” and “metal”: O(el) + Meta(ll) = Oemeta.