Hans Klenk (born April 3, 1906, in Oßweil; died March 7, 1983, in Mainz) was a German entrepreneur, inventor, patron and benefactor. He was the founder of Hakle and an honorary citizen of the city of Ludwigsburg.
After attending high school and completing a banking apprenticeship, Klenk worked in the paper industry and other branches of industry. During the Second World War, he was commander of the anti-aircraft barracks on the present site of the University of Mainz.[1]
Hans Klenk was married to Elly Thomas (1903-1994). Their son Hans-Dieter Klenk took over his father's company. Hans Klenk was buried in the Main Cemetery in Mainz.
In 1928, Klenk founded the Hakle company, named after the first letters of his first and last name, in the former Provisions Office in his hometown of Ludwigsburg.[2] Toilet paper was produced in the morning, with sales following in the afternoon.
Klenk was the first to offer a 1000-sheet roll of toilet paper and expanded his range to include other sanitary papers.[3][4] He relocated his company in 1938[5] to Mainz and was considered the largest specialty paper manufacturer in the hygiene sector within the EEC in the 1960s.
A long-time employee from 1959 to 1983 was Herbert Bonewitz, who was responsible for the company's own magazine Die Rolle from 1960 onwards, and was ultimately an authorized signatory and head of corporate communications.
Hakle underwent numerous changes of ownership. It was acquired by Kimberly Clark in 1999,[6][7] by Palero Capital on May 1, 2013[8] and by Cross Atlantic Capital in 2019.[citation needed]
On June 3, 1966, the Hans Klenk Foundation was established to provide funds for the promotion of scientific work and to provide financial support for the Hans Klenk Prize. It was dissolved in 2017.
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