Tradition in match production since 1858

The synonym for fire? That ́s clear: matches! They are the core of our quality brand Europe Match. And a long tradition is related to them. Already around 950 before Christ the first precursor had been developed. At that time it was a more daring way to inflame fire because the in sulfur soaked pine sticks became inflamed at the slightest movement. No comparison to today's safety matches!

Throughout history alchemists, inventors and chemists had been advancing the wooden sticks. Finally Rudolf Christian Boettger invented the so-called safety match 1848. He sold his patent to the Swedish match industry. The Swedish "Zündholzkönig" Ivar Kreuger founded the Swedish concern which had held the match monopoly in Germany up to 1983. The today’s Europe Match GmbH was the outcome of this concern, founded in 2006 by the long-standing manager Klaus Bruns. He acquired, inter alia, the production facility in Szeged (Hungary), and thereby more than 150 years of experience in match production. Here 1,5 million match boxes and book matches are produced daily.