Bauerfeind


 * See Bauernfeind for the surname.

Bauerfeind AG is a German health care equipment company, one of the largest manufacturers of orthopaedic hosiery and inserts in the world. The company provides products to support elite athletes and sports clubs. Its headquarters are in Zeulenroda-Triebes, Thuringia. As a family-owend enterprise, Bauerfeind remains unlisted on all stock exchanges.

The company was founded in Zeulenroda in 1929 by Bruno Bauerfeind as a manufacturer of medical rubber stockings. In 1949 his son, Rudolf Bauerfeind, relocated from Zeulenroda due to East Germany nationalisation policy and reconstructed company operations in western Germany. Initially, the company was based in Darmstadt-Eberstadt and later moved to Kempen. Following the German reunification in 1991, Hans B. Bauerfeind, the founder's grandson and chairman of the management board since 1976, returned Bauerfeind GmbH (as it was known at the time) to Zeulenroda. He accomplished this by acquiring a compression bandage manufacturer in the area and investing over 100 million euros into a new production facility, a research centre, and erecting a new 57-metre tall building to use as the business headquarters. Notably, it became the tallest building built in Thuringia since reunification.

In 2002, the family-owned enterprise transformed into an Aktiengesellschaft (en: public limited company).

Hans Bauerfeind expanded the company into an international conglomerate. the company comprised approximately 2,000 employees, of which 800 were located in Zeulenroda. Additionally, it has over 20 subsidiaries in several countries, including Austria, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and the United States.

Sales for the year 2015 amounted to 203.7 million euros.

Medical aids are manufactured in Germany and involve manual craftsmanship (i.e. partly made by hand). Since January 2017 Dirk Nowitzki has been a worldwide brand ambassador for the company.

Bauerfeind has developed computer applications such as software to model clients' legs in three dimensions for accurate fitting. For the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Bauerfeind not only supplied compression stockings but also provided 750 pairs of health shoes manufactured by their Berkemann subsidiary.

Hans Bauerfeind himself held more than 60 patents and was awarded an honorary professorship by the Fachhochschule Münster in 2007, recognising his and the company's contributions to the establishment of the technical orthopaedics courses at German technical universities and the extensive financial support provided to the programme at Münster. In 2020 Hans resigned from the position of chairman of the board, having passed the role to Rainer Berthan. On the 14th of July 2023, Hans' death was announced by several media outlets.

Additionally, the company participates in an international education programme and awards a prize of its own. Bauerfeind also owns the Bio-Seehotel in Zeulenroda, which has consistently been recognised as one of Germany's best conference hotels. The Bio-Seehotel establishment was opened in 2006 following the conversion of a conference centre, which used to serve as a hotel for the Free German Trade Union Federation.