George Grubler and Karl Hollborn: Two Founders of the Biological Stain Industry

Abstract

The aniline dye industry was created in 1856 when the Englishman William Perkin prepared the color mauve from aniline. Dye industries were then formed in several European countries, and each year thousands of new colors and shades were tested on fabrics. Scientists of that period used these new dyes to study the structures of plant and animal tissues. Starting in 1880 George Grubler, a German pharmacist, sold biological stains to scientists around the world. Grubler stains earned a reputation for reliability, and many of the staining methods developed at that time stipulated the use of Grubler's dyes, even after the firm was sold to Karl Hollborn who continued Grubler's work and devised new staining methods. The Grubler company continued to prosper until World War I. The Chroma Gesellschaft-Schmid GMBH Company in Germany is a successor of the Grubler company.

The interrupted supply of Grubler stains during World War I prompted the start of the American biological stain industry and subsequently the Biological Stain Commission was formed. (The J Histotechnol 16:155, 1993)

Keywords:

• aniline dyes
• Grubler
• Hollborn