Keimfarben

The reign of King Ludwig I of Bavaria was a time of intensive research into water glass (potassium silicate). The king loved the colorful lime frescoes in North Italy and longed to enjoy the typically splendid colors produced by lime paints in his own kingdom. But the harsh German climate was not suitable for the technique used in Italy.

Eventually, the skilled craftsman and researcher Adolf Wilhelm Keim succeeded in mixing liquid water glass and mineral color pigments to create a paint that could withstand the climate north of the Alps while at the same time offering brilliant colors. The paint's durability results from the chemical bond formed by the binding agent with the substrate (silification). Keim obtained a patent for his mineral paints in 1878, thus laying the foundation stone for today's company KEIMFARBEN GMBH. The first production site was near to the limestone quarry in Offenstetten (which belongs to Abensberg today) in Lower Bavaria.

Keim laid the foundation for the success of Keimfarben in 1878 with KEIM Purkristalat, a two-component pure silicate paint. The second generation of Keim paints followed in 1962 with Keim Granital, the first silicate emulsion paint; in contrast to Purkristalat, this is a one-component paint which makes it easier to apply. In 2002, Keimfarben then launched Keim Soldalit, a sol-silicate or colloidal silicate paint (binding agent: colloidal silica and water glass), which makes it much easier to apply silicate paints so that they are suitable for universal use.

Keimfarben produces paint systems for external and internal use, mineral renders and fillers, natural stone repair systems and thermal insulation composite systems, together with concrete repair and surface protection systems. A new item in the product range is silicate paint for wooden substrates.