Birchmeier celebrates 140th anniversary

In 2016, Birchmeier Sprühtechnik AG will celebrate its 140th anniversary. The Swiss company manufactures spraying, foaming and dispensing devices. Their range of products includes anything from small hand sprayers to backpack or cart sprayers and is used in over 40 countries around the globe in houses and gardens, agriculture, trades and industry.

History
In 1876, what is now Birchmeier Sprühtechnik AG was established under the name Trost & Cie in Künten in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland. At the time, the company produced lamps and metal goods.

It only began producing sprayers some years later after Johann Babtist Birchmeier, an accountant and silent partner in the manufacturing operation since 1889, heard about the problems that wine growers were facing owing to phylloxera. Accidentally brought in from North America, the pest was destroying entire winegrowing areas in Europe. For Birchmeier, the problem became an obsession which prompted him to develop an ingenious invention – the world's first backpack sprayer – in 1889. A number of years later, he took over the company and renamed it "Birchmeier & Cie".

The world's first backpack sprayer. Invented and developed by J.B. Birchmeier around 1890

Prior to this invention, spraying agents had been applied – with limited effectiveness – using a bucket and brush. The world's first backpack sprayer which can be seen in the Historical Museum in Aarau, Switzerland used a wooden vat as a container. However, the internal pump soon proved to be a problem, and so the second generation with an external pump was launched soon after.

2nd generation backpack sprayer with external pump developed and patented by J.B. Birchmeier around 1892.

The third generation which was launched around the turn of the century is still fully preserved and in the company's possession.

The 3rd generation backpack sprayer developed and patented by J.B. Birchmeier around 1900 won prizes for innovation at world exhibitions.

At the time, the company received awards at exhibitions from Berlin to Paris – and it has continued to develop genuine innovations in the decades that followed.

1929: First motorised sprayer
1937: First horse-drawn spray boom
1949: First backpack mist blower
1966: First sintered ruby fan nozzles – a new technological development
1972: Replacement of metal containers with blow moulded plastic

Even if there have been constant further developments in terms of construction and materials since then, the principle of the external pump remains the same to this day and is still used by the manufacturer even in the very latest products.

For more information

Birchmeier Sprühtechnik AG

Im Stetterfeld 1

CH-5608 Stetten, Switzerland

T: +49/ (0)151 61 53 78 97