Setting The Beat Of Water: 125 Years Of Hansgrohe Innovation

SETTING THE BEAT OF WATER SINCE 1901

hansgrohe has defined innovation

Johannesburg, May 2026. For 125 years, hansgrohe has done more than make bathroom products. It has reimagined how people live with water.

Under the anniversary theme “Setting the Beat of Water. Since 1901,” hansgrohe’s story is one of curiosity, technical ingenuity and a determination to improve everyday life. What began in a small workshop in Germany’s Black Forest has become one of the world’s most recognised names in the bathroom industry - a brand associated with quality, design, innovation and sustainability.

At the heart of that legacy is a simple but powerful idea: invent what the customer needs — plus a little ingenuity. It is a philosophy that has guided hansgrohe across generations, inspiring the company to look beyond convention, challenge familiar thinking and develop products that often arrive ahead of their time.

Hans Grohe recognised the importance of hygiene and personal well-being early on. While the company initially produced items such as watch parts and stove rosettes, it soon turned its attention to sanitary products, laying the foundation for a business that would go on to shape the global bathroom market. Over the decades, showers and drains were transformed from purely functional items into intelligent, user-focused solutions. Early breakthroughs included the shoulder shower in 1932 and the first automatic bathtub drain and overflow set in 1934.

A major milestone followed in 1953 with the launch of the Unica, the first height-adjustable shower rail - now a standard feature in bathrooms around the world. Then came the Selecta hand shower in 1968, one of hansgrohe’s most successful products, bringing adjustable spray types and new material innovation to the market. These were not just products; they were signals of a company constantly asking how water could be made to work better for people.

By the 1970s, hansgrohe was pushing the bathroom beyond pure function. Under Klaus Grohe’s leadership, the company began combining engineering excellence with aesthetics, recognising that design could fundamentally change the way people experienced their homes. The Tri-Bel shower, created with Esslinger Design in 1974, brought colour, character and three spray types into the bathroom — and became the company’s first product to win a design award. It marked the beginning of a design journey that would become central to hansgrohe’s identity.

That journey expanded even further with the creation of AXOR in 1993. Through collaborations with internationally renowned designers such as Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio, Patricia Urquiola, Jean-Marie Massaud, and Barber Osgerby, the Hansgrohe Group extended its influence into the world of luxury design. These partnerships proved that innovation could be both highly functional and emotionally resonant.

hansgrohe has never been content to remain within established boundaries. In 1981, it entered the faucet market with Allegro, a range that redefined the single-lever mixer through its unconventional form and innovative mixing system. From there, the company steadily built one of the industry’s most diverse tap portfolios, spanning multiple styles, finishes and technical formats.

It also consistently pioneered new ideas for the shower space. Concepts such as the Shower Temple, the shower panel and the mobile Cocoon shower system showed hansgrohe thinking not just about products, but about holistic bathroom experiences. Then, in 2003, the Raindance concept changed the market once again. By combining the generous feel of an overhead shower with the practicality of a hand shower, hansgrohe created a new category and set a trend that redefined modern showering.

The iBox universal, introduced in 2001, had a similarly transformative effect behind the wall. By creating a single installation unit suitable for multiple applications, hansgrohe simplified complex bathroom installation and gave installers greater flexibility, speed and confidence. It remains a benchmark for intelligent flush-mounted installation to this day.

Long before sustainability became a global imperative, hansgrohe was already exploring how to use water more responsibly. In 1987, the company introduced the Mistral-Eco, the first water-saving hand shower on the market. Since then, decades of spray research have produced technologies that reduce water consumption without compromising comfort, including innovations such as RainAir, which enriches water with air to create softer, fuller droplets.

This mindset has only deepened over time. From greywater recycling concepts such as Pontos to the Green Vision Beyond Water bathroom concept unveiled in 2023 — capable of reducing water consumption by up to 90% — hansgrohe has shown that innovation and environmental responsibility can, and must, go hand in hand.

For 125 years, hansgrohe has been a home for thinkers, tinkerers and pioneers — a place where water and comfort are constantly reimagined. Its enduring relevance lies in its ability to balance engineering intelligence with human need, and product function with emotional resonance.

As Klaus Grohe said at the company’s 100th anniversary, the goal has always been clear: to create innovative, environmentally friendly and design-led products for the bathroom. A quarter-century later, that ambition still sets the rhythm.

hansgrohe. Life is waterful.

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