Bad Heilbrunner Naturheilmittel

Bad Heilbrunner Naturheilmittel GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of medicinal and food teas, herbal remedies and food supplements based in Bad Heilbrunn in Upper Bavaria. The company was founded in 1967 in the village of Bad Heilbrunn, which until the secularisation of 1803 belonged to the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern — a house that had maintained a celebrated medicinal-herb garden and one of Europe's earliest vernacular 'Receptare' (herbal pharmacopoeias) since the Middle Ages. Bad Heilbrunner explicitly presents itself as the heir to that monastic herbal-medicine tradition, combining it with modern phytotherapy. The brand's core business is tea: medicinal teas (Arzneitees) authorised as herbal medicinal products, plus food teas and, increasingly, food supplements. Its range covers well-known herbal indications such as digestive complaints, colds, sleep and relaxation, women's health (including monk's pepper/Vitex for PMS and menopause formulations) and general wellbeing. Products are sold mainly through pharmacies and drugstores in Germany, and the company also distributes in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Bad Heilbrunner is one of three operating companies within the Hermes Arzneimittel Holding GmbH, a mid-sized pharmaceutical group headquartered in Pullach im Isartal near Munich. Hermes was founded in 1907 by Franz Gradinger in Munich, began as a herbal-tea supplier, added plant-based medicines in the 1950s and licensed effervescent-tablet technology in the 1960s. Within the group, Bad Heilbrunner is the tea and supplement specialist, while Hermes Arzneimittel GmbH handles OTC medicines and Hermes Pharma produces effervescent and other fast-dissolving dosage forms. The company markets itself as 'Ihr Spezialist für wohltuende Tees' (your specialist for soothing teas) and invests in consumer education through a herbal knowledge section, blog and sustainability communications. Recent activity includes enlarging certain tea packs (from eight to twelve tea bags, i.e. 50% more content at unchanged quality) and launching five new products spanning relaxation, cell protection and menopause, together with a redesigned packaging look for selected varieties.

Bad Heilbrunner's corporate history is deliberately told as a continuation of a much older local tradition. In 739 AD the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern, the oldest monastery in Bavaria, was founded near what is now Bad Heilbrunn. Like other monasteries of the period it functioned as the region's pharmacy, maintaining an extensive herbal-medicine library and a cultivated physic garden. In the 13th century, when herbal knowledge began to be written down for the general population in Middle High German 'Receptare', Benediktbeuern was a European pioneer: it was the first such 'pharmacy' to compile a Receptar for the people, and by 1250 a list of 35 plants and their uses for everyday complaints was in existence. The village of Bad Heilbrunn belonged to the monastery until the secularisation of 1803. The modern company was founded in 1967 as Bad Heilbrunner Naturheilmittel GmbH & Co. KG in Bad Heilbrunn. From the outset it drew on the naturopathic knowledge associated with Benediktbeuern and combined it with the findings of modern phytotherapy — a pairing of 'history and progress, nature and medicine' that the company still describes as the basis of its medicinal and food teas. Bad Heilbrunner is part of the Hermes Arzneimittel group. Hermes was founded in 1907 by Franz Gradinger in Munich and initially supplied herbal teas; in 1934 Gradinger handed over the business to his son-in-law Albert Burges. After the Second World War the company moved its headquarters to the Montgelas-Schlösschen in Großhesselohe. In the 1950s Hermes added plant-based medicines, and in the 1960s it licensed a manufacturing process for effervescent tablets. By 2012 the group employed roughly 600 people across its headquarters in Großhesselohe and sites in Wolfratshausen, Wolfsberg and Vienna. The Hermes Arzneimittel Holding GmbH, based in Pullach im Isartal, is the group's parent company and comprises three operating companies: Bad Heilbrunner Naturheilmittel GmbH & Co. KG in Bad Heilbrunn, which distributes tea specialities and food supplements in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Hermes Arzneimittel GmbH, which develops and sells OTC medicines, dietetic foods, food supplements and dermopharmaceutical preparations through pharmacies; and Hermes Pharma, which develops and produces effervescent tablets, effervescent granules, chewable tablets, direct granules and medicated chewing gums. Within this structure Bad Heilbrunner has become the group's consumer-facing tea and supplement brand. Its product policy in recent years has focused on broadening the range beyond classic medicinal teas into wellbeing categories — relaxation, cell protection and menopause — while retaining its pharmacy heritage and its emphasis on herbal expertise, communicated through a herbal lexicon, blog and sustainability reporting. In 2026 the brand enlarged several medicinal tea packs from eight to twelve tea bags (50% more content at unchanged quality) and introduced five new products with a revised packaging design for selected varieties.

• 2026

  Several medicinal tea packs enlarged from eight to twelve tea bags; five new products launched with revised packaging.

• 1967

  Bad Heilbrunner Naturheilmittel GmbH & Co. KG founded in Bad Heilbrunn.

• 1934

  Franz Gradinger hands over Hermes to his son-in-law Albert Burges.

• 1907

  Hermes founded by Franz Gradinger in Munich.

• 1803

  Secularisation ends the monastery's ownership of Bad Heilbrunn.

• Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern, the oldest monastery in Bavaria, founded near present-day Bad Heilbrunn.

• Benediktbeuern compiles a Receptar listing 35 plants and their uses for everyday complaints.

Pharmacy-oriented specialist for soothing herbal teas and phytotherapy, rooted in Bavarian monastic herbal tradition.

• Medicinal herbal teas (Arzneitees)

  Herbal medicinal products authorised for specific indications, sold mainly through pharmacies.

• Food teas

  Everyday herbal and fruit teas positioned for wellbeing rather than medicinal claims.

• Herbal food supplements

  Supplement formats extending the brand beyond teas.

• Women's health teas

  Formulations for PMS (including monk's pepper/Vitex) and menopause.

• Relaxation and sleep teas

  Soothing blends for rest and relaxation.

1. 1Bad Heilbrunner official websitebad-heilbrunner.de
2. 2Bad Heilbrunner – Geschichtebad-heilbrunner.de
3. 3Wikidata: Bad Heilbrunner Naturheilmittelwikidata.org
4. 4Wikipedia (de): Hermes Arzneimittel Holdingde.wikipedia.org