14,000 thalers of start-up capital, plus courage and boundless enthusiasm
What plans did 31-year-old Julius Wilhelm Braun have in his head when in 1839 he bought a pharmacy in Melsungen? He paid 14,000 thalers, quite a tidy sum in those days. The young entrepreneur had courage and a good head for business. His vision was quite clear: turn the small Rose Pharmacy into something bigger. In his wildest dreams, he could not have foreseen that his modest enterprise would one day become a company that spans the globe.
It all began with natural, soothing herbal remedies. Julius Wilhelm Braun soon expanded his pharmacy by adding a new business model: a mail-order service for herbal remedies. This young father was curious, stagnation was not an option. He passed his characteristics on to his children. His eldest son, Bernhard Braun, was also fascinated and driven by innovative ideas, always on the lookout for new solutions. Headaches were a painful nuisance, and so were skinned knees. His solutions: migraine sticks, band aids, and the start of pharmaceutical production, including the "Höllenstein stick" to treat warts.
His grandson Carl Braun also had an eye for the big picture. The production of catgut was B. Braun’s first step on the road to the large scale manufacturing of medical products. Having the courage to develop medical advances that improve patients’ lives – this desire still motivates us today.
Throughout the coming generations, under the leadership of Otto Braun and his son Ludwig Georg Braun, the company continued to develop dynamically. They pursued a course of strong international expansion. The number of employees worldwide grew to more than 50,000 in a few decades. Despite this enormous growth, one maxim has not changed: we will remain an autonomous, family-run company.