Kärcher is the world’s leading provider of cleaning technology. With high- and ultra high-pressure cleaners, vacuum and steam cleaners, sweepers and scrubber driers, vehicle wash systems, cleaning agents, dry ice blasters, drinking and waste water treatment plants, water dispensers, pumps and watering systems for home and garden, Kärcher offers a range of innovative problem solutions.
These include coordinated products and accessories, along with advice, service and numerous digital solutions. In 2018, Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG achieved a turnover of 2.525 billion euro, the highest in its history. The family-run company employs 13,027 staff in more than 120 companies in 70 countries. Over 50,000 service outlets worldwide ensure uninterrupted supply for customers all over the world. Innovation is the most important growth factor for the company and has been an essential component of the corporate culture since the company’s foundation in 1935: roughly 90% of all products are five years old or younger. A total of more than 1,000 employees work in research and development at the cleaning machine manufacturer. Kärcher currently holds over 630 active patents.
After founding the company in 1935, the engineer and passionate innovator Alfred Kärcher searched for solutions for technical problems with an inexhaustible creative urge and inventive spirit. At the same time, he never neglected his responsibility for the interests and concerns of his employees.
Up to the present day, Kärcher remains committed to social responsibility beyond its daily business. Thus, for over eight years, SOS Children’s Villages around the world have been provided with cleaning machines, and, in cooperation with the Global Nature Fund, green filter systems have been installed in developing and threshold countries.
Within the framework of its cultural sponsorship programme, since 1980 Kärcher has cleaned over 140 monuments in the course of restoration work. This includes the colonnades on St. Peter’s Square in Rome, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the over 3,300-year-old Colossi of Memnon in Luxor, Upper Egypt, and the presidents’ heads on Mount Rushmore, USA. The cleaning work always takes place in cooperation with monument conservationists, restorers and art historians.