Ballistol Universal was developed in 1904 and has been produced in Germany using the same recipe ever since, maintaining its excellent properties for over 117 years. BALLISTOL has been produced and sold worldwide for more than four generations. Initially developed for the imperial army as a maintenance oil for firearms, BALLISTOL soon became an indispensable household remedy in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Millions of users have used and experimented with BALLISTOL, discovering surprisingly many ways and instances of its use, both for humans and animals.
In 1874, Friedrich Wilhelm Klever, a lawyer with an interest in economics, founded the F.W. Klever chemical factory in Cologne, Germany. He started producing coal-based oils and greases. To be independent of raw material supplies, he bought a coal mine. Around the turn of the 20th century, the imperial army needed a universal oil that was not only suitable for maintaining and cleaning the metal parts of firearms but also for maintaining wooden stocks and leather equipment. At the same time, it needed to serve soldiers as an oil for minor injuries, tears, and bruises.
It was then that Dr. Helmut Klever, a chemistry professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and son of the founder of the Klever chemical factory, succeeded in creating the formula for the special oil. He coined the name BALLISTOL by combining the technical term "ballistics" with the Latin word for oil, "oleum." And it wasn't long before BALLISTOL established itself as the "miracle oil" due to its incredible, often miraculous properties.
The oil was used by the German army from 1905 to 1945. Despite all the historical upheavals, the BALLISTOL brand name has survived to this day and has become a term, a technical term, for hunters, shooters, fishermen, and many others. It is no exaggeration to say that BALLISTOL has become synonymous with quality and versatility.
