Over the Bridge

Rising out of snow-covered farm lands on the south bank of Germany's Main River near Frankfurt are the scaffolds for an expanse of buildings that will be one of Europe's largest privately owned research laboratories when completed later this year. To link the 600 scientists who will work in its new $25 million research facility with the main plant on the north bank, the chemical firm Hoechst Farbewerke is spanning the river with a 430-ft., two-lane bridge.

Hoechst excels at building bridges between research and industry, and does not mind the cost. Last year the West German company spent $31.5 million on research, ranking it among the world's most research-conscious firms. Hoechst is so successful in making its scientific achievements pay off that it is Europe's third largest chemical company (after Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries and Germany's Bayer), with 53,300 employees and 1962 sales of $863.5 million.

Dyeing for the Empress. The company got its start 100 years ago through an ingenious stroke of applied science. Its founder, a German chemist named Eugen Lucius, perfected the first instant dye, which won wide popularity after a French silk dyer used it to dye green the silk to be used in an evening dress for Emperor Napoleon Ill's wife, Empress Eugenie. Soon researchers, using Hoechst dyes, learned that they could stain living and dead tissue to study the origin and spread of diseases. Famed Microbiologist Robert Koch used Hoechst dyes to discover the organisms causing anthrax and tuberculosis. Over the years, Hoechst scientists developed Novocain, the first effective local anesthetic, produced Adrenalin, the first synthetic hormone, and opened the way for the company's huge expansion into plastics by discovering how to produce polyvinyl. In 1925 Hoechst joined the other giant German chemical companies in the I. G. Farben combine. After the war, when the Allies broke up the combine, Hoechst emerged as an independent company. Its main plant had barely been touched by Allied bombs.

To guide its postwar comeback, Hoechst, true to its tradition, chose not an administrator but a scientist: Professor Karl Winnaker, 59, who spends his spare time writing books on chemistry. "You don't need a hobby if you choose the right profession," says Winnaker, who proudly carries five dueling scars on his face and keeps his scalp shaved except for a few wisps in the middle. As a respected scientist, he has been awarded the Federal Republic's second highest civilian decoration, frequently represents West Germany at international nuclear conferences.

Keeping Up the Flow. Though Hoechst is prepared for increasing competition from Italian and French chemical com panies within the Common Market, and from British and U.S. firms outside it, Winnaker does not seem very worried about the future. Nearly half of Hoechst's sales come from products developed by the company's scientists within the past ten years (among them: Rastinon, the first oral insulin for diabetics; Segontin, a drug for circulatory disturbances; Trevira, a polyester fiber for garments). Winnaker intends to keep up the flow. Hoechst's new research facility is so designed that next to each two-man experimental laboratory is another lab in which a development team will work at finding commercial applications for whatever discoveries the researchers may make.

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