Weleda

In 1920, Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, and Ita Wegman, a Dutch gynecologist founded "Futurum AG", in Arlesheim, Switzerland, and "Der Kommende Tag AG" (an incorporated company with the mission of encouraging economic and spiritual values) in Stuttgart, Germany. Their operating profits were meant to contribute to the financing of various anthroposophic undertakings such as constructing the Goetheanum and establishing the Free Waldorf School in Stuttgart.[5] In 1920, Der Kommende Tag AG acquired the former "Colonial-Werke Paul Rumpus" in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Today, this is the location of the Weleda headquarters.[6] In 1921, the two companies wanted to merge for financial reasons. In 1922, the Futurum AG was renamed Internationale Laboratorien AG (ILAG) and new shares were issued. At a general meeting, Rudolf Steiner asked the shareholders to give their shares in Der Kommende Tag to ILAG in order to secure the assets of both companies, which were in financial difficulties. The companies were merged under a new name: Internationale Laboratorien und Klinisch-Therapeutisches Institut Arlesheim A.G. The facilities in Germany became branches of the Swiss parent company. Following a suggestion by Rudolf Steiner, the name Weleda was registered as a trademark: on September 20, 1924 in Germany and on September 25, 1924 in Switzerland. It was also proposed to rename ILAG, the parent company accordingly. On 10 December 1928, the company officially registered under the new name Weleda AG, and it is still known as such today.[7][8] The name Weleda derives from the Germanic prophet and healer „Veleda“.[9] The Weleda company logo was designed by Rudolf Steiner. The logo is based on the Rod of Asclepius, a staff entwined with a snake, which is a symbol of the medical and pharmaceutical professions.

The establishment of Weleda coincided with Lebensreform, "life reform", a social movement in Germany that advocated alternative medicine and health food.[10]

During the 1920s, Weleda expanded its product range. Some of the newly developed cosmetics are still part of the range today: toiletry milk (later iris milk), massage oil, rosemary bath, skin cream, soap, shaving soap, skin food, sun protection cream, hair washing powder, pine bath essence, and arnica essence. Weleda’s total turnover doubled between 1925 and 1928 and Weleda expanded internationally. A number of subsidiaries are founded in the 1920s: The British Weleda Co. Ltd. (1924), Handelsonderneming Weleda (Netherlands, 1926), The American Arlesheim Laboratories (1926), Veleda-Ges.m.b.H. (Czechoslovakia, 1926).[11]

During the 1930s, parts of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) viewed anthroposophy as a movement that was contrary to National Socialism. As a consequence, Rudolf Steiner’s books were banned from Bavarian public libraries.[12] In 1935, the Anthroposophical Society was proscribed. Several times, Weleda was threatened with a ban on production, which it could avoid with considerable effort. In 1943, Weleda delivered a one-off consignment of frostbite protection cream to the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht. Since Weleda did not have the petroleum jelly needed to produce the frostbite protection cream that had been ordered, it was provided with this ingredient from the Wehrmacht’s own stock. The frostbite protection cream was delivered to Staff Surgeon Sigmund Rascher of the German air force. Rascher performed hypothermia experiments on prisoners at Dachau concentration camp.[13] In the 1990s, Weleda distanced itself from these actions and apologized to the survivors’ association Aktion Kinder des Holocaust (AKdH). Weleda facilitated a comprehensive scholarly investigation of the events concerned, carried out by the history department of the University of Basel. Weleda overcame the period of National Socialist rule and the Second World War relatively unscathed, as the German branches belonged to a company with its headquarters in neutral Switzerland.

Experience Centre Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend Visitor Centre with shop

During Europe’s economic boom in the 1950s and 1960s, Weleda expanded its product range: therapeutic tea (1950), sea buckthorn elixir (1955), facial toner (1959), shaving cream (1960), lavender bath milk (1961), foot balm (1962), and chestnut shampoo (1966). From the 1950s onwards, Weleda continued to pursue an international course. Foreign subsidiaries were established in Italy (1953), New Zealand (1955), Sweden (1956), Brazil (1959), and Argentina (1965). The global demand for natural cosmetics increased continually during the 1990s and thereafter. By 1992, Weleda was represented in 30 countries with a range of over 10,000 products. Weleda established further international subsidiaries, such as Weleda Chile (1992), Weleda Peru (1993), Weleda Japan (1999), Weleda Slovakia (2000), and Weleda Finland (2004).[14]