From repairing and producing toys to developing the most important innovations for aquariums
Deizisau, June 2019 - With the invention of the aquarium suction filter, EHEIM made aquatics what it is today: a hobby for broad sectors of the population and millions of fish lovers worldwide.
The fascinating underwater world of colourful exotic fish, hustlng and bustling between plants or corals, creating wonderful land-scapes in the aquarium, would probably never have happened had Gunther Eheim not implemented his ingenious idea.
Approximately 100 years ago, the first exotic ornamental fish came to Europe but could only be kept under the most difficult and basic conditions. Eheim’s story began in 1949, when the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany was enacted. At that time the young engineer Gunther Eheim founded his first company in Ess-lingen, near Stuttgart, for the "repair and production of technical toys". Gunther’s office was his father-in-law’s veranda where he repaired and rebuilt model railways. Later the company moved to Deizisau, only a few kilometres away, where EHEIM still has its headquarters today.
In 1953 EHEIM presented its first model trolleybus, which is still legendary today. Although this became a bestseller, the break-through only came with a model railway water tower system incor-porating an innovative watertight centrifugal pump with a magnetic coupling - designed specifically for this purpose.
The idea of combining this special centrifugal pump with a canister eventually led to the development of a suction filter for aquariums. Aquarium water could finally be cleaned automatically and the first EHEIM filter system went into production in 1963. As early as 1971, 100,000 EHEIM aquarium filters were in use worldwide and ten years later they were being produced in a 10,000 m² factory.
Further inventions and innovations were added in quick succes-sion. First a new generation EHEIM filter with synchronous motor technology was developed in 1981, then, in 1985, a new product range for the garden pond. Further internal and external filter mod-els followed and, in the 1990s, the EHEIM professionel and EHEIM ecco filter ranges were introduced, both of which have developed into highly efficient energy-saving appliances.
In 1993 EHEIM acquired the aquarium construction company Mül-ler & Pfleger (mp) in Rockenhausen (Rhineland-Palatinate) in or-der to expand the entire aquarium sector. This enabled EHEIM to offer both fresh and marine water aquariums and aquarium com-binations in various sizes and designs. In addition, the shop fitting service "shopDesign" was created for the specialised pet and aquatic trade.
In 2002, EHEIM also bought the Jäger company in Wüstenrot (near Heilbronn). In the 1960’s, the engineer Eugen Jäger, in a similar way to Gunther Eheim, helped to improve the aquatic hob-by with his invention of the “Jäger” adjustable aquarium heater. Over the years, the legendary heater has been continuously im-proved - right up to today's electronically controlled EHEIM ther-mocontrol-e.
The power of innovation continued into the 2000s when the new internal and external filter ranges, with increased performance ef-ficiency, were introduced. Two prime examples were the new EHEIM internal aquaball filter, which was promptly awarded the "Red Dot" design prize in 2002 and, in 2006, the EHEIM professio-nel 3e - introduced as the world's first electronic external filter to be controlled by computer. Many other new products were added, such as air pumps, flow pumps, UV clarifiers with special technol-ogy and protein skimmers, etc.
In addition, new aquariums and aquarium combinations were cre-ated with interesting, sometimes avant-garde designs, including the incpiria and incpiria marine in 2012/13.
From 2014, new LED lighting concepts for freshwater and marine aquariums were developed in the company's own lighting laborato-ry. The new EHEIM LEDcontrol+ wireless lighting control, for use with a smartphone, tablet or PC (a typical example of increasing digitalization) recently came onto the market.
Today, EHEIM offers aquariums and aquarium combinations for fresh and marine water as well as aquarium lighting and control, internal and external filters, aquarium heaters, UV clarifiers, air pumps, flow pumps, skimmers, CO2 systems, mechanical, biolog-ical, adsorptive and chemical filter media, pond products, various cleaning accessories, automatic feeders, installation sets and, since 2014, food and water treatment as an extension to complete the range.
EHEIM has received many awards including the Red Dot Design Award as well as other design and innovation prizes. At the Animal Expo in Paris 2018, EHEIM received the bronze medal for the new incpiria aquarium combination for innovation & design. In addition, Animal Distribution Magazine awarded EHEIM the ‘Animal Chal-lenge Award’ as ‘Best Supplier of the Year’ in 2 categories. The new electronic LEDcontrol lighting control also won the gold medal in 2017 and the WBF awarded EHEIM the renowned "World Branding Award" as "Brand of the Year".
The spirit of invention is deeply rooted at EHEIM where new ideas, new products and further developments are constantly emerging. The aim is to offer aquarium enthusiasts the best, highly developed innovations and to set trends with progressive technologies, whilst ensuring high quality and safety requirements are met. This is why the majority of products are produced in Germany - EHEIM and "Made in Germany" are almost synonymous. Easy handling, good design and high performance are always on the agenda, especially in terms of energy efficiency, environmental friendliness and sus-tainability. When it comes to production - EHEIM is at the forefront.
Gunther Eheim, who died in 2013 at the age of 93, was one of the pioneers of the twentieth century. A brilliant engineer and a typical tinkerer and inventor. From the smallest beginnings 70 years ago, he became the world's leading manufacturer of aquatic products. Today, the EHEIM Group is probably the best-known supplier of aquariums, aquarium technology, equipment and accessories. The EHEIM brand has become an international term and is generally equated with high quality. Gunther Eheim's ambition throughout his life was to be better and more reliable than others. Following this maxim, after a change of management in 2016, Ibrahim Mefire Kouotou, a business economist and marketing specialist born in Cameroon, became the new EHEIM managing director. Gunther Eheim recognized Mr Mefire’s talent and originally hired him as the marketing manager.