Fiber cement products were first patented in Austria in 1901 and were called “Eternit” by Ludwig Hatschek after the term “aeternitas” meaning everlasting. It was only in 1903 that Schweizerische Eternit-Werke AG started fabricating the product in Niederurnen, Switzerland. The inital make involved the usage of asbestos to add strength but later turned out into a good alternative to the asbestos sheets as their replacement.