910: It all starts with Sika-1 and the Gotthard Tunnel
Foundation of Sika
Kaspar Winkler was driven by his entrepreneurial spirit when he laid the cornerstone of our company in 1910. He invented Sika-1, a quick-setting waterproofing admixture for mortar, which was used to waterproof the Gotthard Tunnel. It enabled the Swiss railway company to electrify the important connection between Northern and Southern Europe.
Innovation met demand
Kaspar Winkler recognized an upcoming global need for his groundbreaking admixtures and launched subsidiaries around the world. Already in the 1930s, 15 Sika subsidiaries in Europe, USA, Argentina, Brazil and Japan established new construction chemicals markets.