The history of today's H&R begins with a small company in Hamburg. This is where Heinrich Hansen and Emil Rosenthal found the company Hansen & Rosenthal on December 16, 1919 in Hamburg, thereby laying the foundation for the company's success. In the decades that followed, H&R developed into a globally successful company with products such as white oils, paraffins, base oils and plasticizers.

A business relationship with Ölwerke Julius Schindler (OJS), which was founded in 1920, began very early on and would continue to grow in importance over the following decades. Medicinal white oils, for example, were produced here.

Despite the difficult post-war circumstances, the company developed successfully from the start. This remained the case when, in 1923, after the departure of co-founder Rosenthal, Heinrich Hansen continued to run the business alone. His motto was: quality and absolute reliability!

Constant growth and more employees soon made it necessary to move from the office in the 'Hopfensack' to larger rooms on the 'Großen Burstah' near the Hamburg City Hall.

After a new start in 1945 and the later relocation of the office to Ost-West-Strasse, another move to the building at Heilholtkamp followed. Since July 2005, the administrative headquarters have been located in the newly developed Hamburg HafenCity, Am Sandtorkai, directly on the old historic warehouse district opposite the Elbphilharmonie.

However, the Hansen & Rosenthal company has always remained true to its Hanseatic tradition: down-to-earth and maintaining existing connections on the one hand, global contacts and expanding business relationships on the other.