Basf

FOUNDED IN 1865, BASF (Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik) of Ludwigshaffen, Germany, pioneered the industrial manufacture of dyestuffs. In 2003, BASF operated more than 100 large manufacturing sites and supplied chemicals and plastics to customers in more than 170 countries.

In 1925, BASF merged with Bayer, Hoechst and three other companies to form I.G. Farbenindustrie AG. Between 1933 and 1945, I.G. Farben played a central role in the Nazi economy. During World War II, the company manufactured poison gas used at extermination camps, and employed forced labor and slave labor. The strength of the links between I.G. Farben and the Nazi regime prompted the Allies to order the dissolution of the company in 1945, and several company directors and senior managers were tried for war crimes and ...