Company officials of tesa tape inc., an affiliate of tesa SE, recently announced that 2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the first tesa-branded product being produced and made available by parent company Beiersdorf. The roots of the first tesa product date back well beyond 75 years, with an initial adhesive medical bandage developed by Paul Beiersdorf in 1882 in Germany. Beiersdorf patented his adhesive technology, and the Beiersdorf Co. and the foundation of the tesa brand were formed.

Innovations to the adhesive tape line continued for several years and, in 1906, the Beiersdorf Co., located in Hamburg, Germany, held a contest among its employees to suggest brand names for the adhesive tape line. Elsa Tesmer, a secretary at the company, submitted the word “tesa,” which represented a combination of letters within her name. The brand name became legalized, and the first tesa-branded product, tesa®-Klebefilm, a transparent film-backed tape designed for general-purpose holding applications, hit the market in 1936.

Today, tesa is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and accessories. The company employs more than 3,700 people based in over 51 affiliate offices worldwide. The global product line includes more than 7,000 products used in industries including electronics, healthcare, renewable energies, automotive/transportation, printing and consumer.

For more information, visit www.tesatape.com.