# Criniton ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Passau (brand owner/licensor Dr. Atzinger GmbH & Co. KG); current licensee and exclusive distributor KANZLSPERGER GmbH i | | Status | Active | | Distribution | Multi-channel | | Website | https://www.kanzlsperger.de/ | Criniton is a German anti-dandruff hair care line that grew out of Dr. Atzinger, a small pharmaceutical company with roots in Saxony and, since the Second World War, a home in Passau in Bavaria. Its main product is an alcohol-based hair wash lotion for dandruff and itchy scalp. A shampoo for dogs, Criniton Vet, sits alongside it. The brand is still owned by Dr. Atzinger GmbH & Co. KG, but since at least March 2025 its products have been made available through a licensee, the Bavarian medical supplies dealer KANZLSPERGER GmbH, and through pharmacies [5]. Criniton has no recorded founding year of its own; its history is told through the company that created it. ## Origin & founders The company behind Criniton was started by Dr. Anton Atzinger, a veterinarian. During the First World War he ran a military hospital for horses with more than 1,000 animal "patients", according to a 1998 anniversary article in Paracelsus Magazin. There he developed "Pinal-Paste", a treatment for mud fever, a skin infection of horses' lower legs. After the war he headed his own veterinary surgical clinic in Liebstadt near Dresden. Demand for the paste was strong enough that Atzinger decided in 1921 to found his own pharmaceutical company, as the magazine's text puts it [6]. The same article, however, was published in 1998 to mark the firm's 75th anniversary, which would place the start in 1923 [6]. The source does not reconcile the two dates. Atzinger's main interest became treatment through the skin. The magazine credits him with developing the first industrially produced medicinal baths, sold as LEUKONA baths, and calls him a pioneer of pharmaceutical bath therapy. Criniton was developed "in parallel" at the same firm as a medical hair treatment [6]. No year is given for its launch, and the article does not name who formulated it. ## History & milestones Six years after its founding, the company moved from Liebstadt to Berlin in search of room to grow. In 1944 its Berlin premises were destroyed in bombing. Atzinger chose to restart in his home town of Passau, and production resumed the same year in makeshift rooms inside a brewery [6]. Anton Atzinger died on 9 June 1966. His son Horst, a pharmacist, took over the business. After Horst's death in 1984, Atzinger's daughter followed him at the head of the family firm. In 1985 the company opened new production facilities at its current site in Passau. By the late 1990s Criniton had become one of the company's long-running products. Paracelsus Magazin wrote in 1998 that it still existed as a first-choice remedy for dandruff, psoriasis and scalp ringworm [6]. The next documented change came much later. In a notice dated 1 March 2025, Dr. Atzinger announced that its products could from then on be ordered only through KANZLSPERGER GmbH, which it called its new licensee, or from pharmacies. The notice listed "Criniton Antischuppen" and the Criniton Vet dog shampoo among products that were "available again" [5]. It does not say when the licence began or why the products had been unavailable. ## Ownership The brand owner is Dr. Atzinger GmbH & Co. KG, a limited partnership registered at the Passau district court under HRA 10274. Its general partner is Dr. Atzinger Beteiligungs-GmbH, also based in Passau. The company register shows the partnership as active, with annual reports filed from 2006 through 2025 and no insolvency or dissolution proceedings [9]. The company's own website names Herbert Karosser as managing director. Besides Criniton, the Dr. Atzinger range includes bath and sauna products such as a sulphur-mud bath (Sulfomoor) and a traditional rheumatism bath, alongside the LEUKONA name. No acquisitions or changes of ownership of the Criniton brand itself are documented. Day-to-day sales now run through the licensee. KANZLSPERGER GmbH, based in Berngau between Nuremberg and Regensburg, describes itself as a leading dealer in medical supplies for physiotherapy and sport, with more than 6,000 products [2]. It was founded by Peter Kanzlsperger, who is also named as the contact for Dr. Atzinger products. On the dealer's shop the hair lotion and dog shampoo appear under the brand label "Dr. Atzinger", so the line is often seen as Dr. Atzinger Criniton. Some pharmacy listings name Kanzlsperger GmbH as manufacturer or supplier. ## Products & innovation The core product is Criniton Anti-Schuppen, a 125 ml alcohol-based hair wash lotion intended for dandruff and an itchy scalp. According to the licensee, it is free of perfume and contains no preservatives, and its essential oils are meant to calm itching and help keep dandruff from returning [3]. The directions call for 15 to 30 ml, applied undiluted to damp hair, massaged into the scalp and rinsed out. How the product is classified has shifted over time. In 1998 it was described as a medical hair treatment. Today one large online pharmacy lists it as a cosmetic [8], while another files it under derma-cosmetics, mentions a reformulated version, and says it is suited in particular to people with scalp psoriasis or very oily scalps [7]. The second product, Criniton Vet, is a 200 ml shampoo for animals, especially dogs, for use on skin and coat. The licensee says it loosens flakes, helps with skin blemishes and itchy coats, and adds shine [4]. No patents, clinical studies or third-party certifications are documented for the brand. ## Current status Criniton is active. Both the hair lotion and the dog shampoo were listed as in stock on the licensee's shop in October 2026, and the hair lotion carries a pharmacy product number that lets pharmacies order it. The brand is sold mainly through pharmacies and the licensee rather than through general beauty retail. It has no social media presence of its own, and no recent press coverage is documented. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1921 | Veterinarian Dr. Anton Atzinger decides to found his own pharmaceutical company in Liebstadt near Dresden (the company in which Criniton was later developed). Source text: 'im Jahr 1921 entschloß, sein eigenes Pharmaunternehmen zu gründen'. | https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau | | 1944 | Company premises in Berlin bombed out; production resumed the same year in Passau in makeshift brewery premises. | https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau | | 1966 | Dr. Anton Atzinger died on 9 June 1966; his son, pharmacist Horst Atzinger, took over, followed by Atzinger's daughter after Horst's death in 1984. | https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau | | 1985 | The family company commissioned new production facilities at its Passau site. | https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau | | 1998 | Paracelsus Magazin (issue 2/1998) covers Dr. Atzinger Arzneimittel's 75th company anniversary and describes Criniton as still existing as a 'Mittel der ersten Wahl bei Schuppen, Psoriasis und Kopfflechten'. | https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau | | 2025 | Dr. Atzinger's website (notice dated 'Stand 01.03.2025') states that Dr. Atzinger products are now distributed only via KANZLSPERGER GmbH, Berngau ('unserem neuen Lizenznehmer') or pharmacies, and that 'Dr. Atzinger Criniton Antischuppen' and 'Dr. Atzinger Crintion vet' (sic) are available again. The notice does not say when the licence started. | http://www.dr-atzinger.de/ | | — | Six years after founding, the company moved to Berlin ('Sechs Jahre später siedelte die Firma ... nach Berlin über'). Criniton was developed 'parallel' to the LEUKONA medicinal baths; no year given for Criniton's development. | https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Criniton Anti-Schuppen (125 ml hair wash lotion)** — Criniton® Anti-Schuppen ist parfümfrei und enthält keine Konservierungsmittel — https://www.kanzlsperger.de/criniton-anti-schuppen-228030001.html - **Criniton Vet (200 ml shampoo for animals, especially dogs)** — Shampoo für Tiere, speziell für Hunde – Zur Anwendung auf Haut und Fell — https://www.kanzlsperger.de/criniton-vet-228030005.html ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} salicylic acid · thymol · rosemary oil · isopropyl alcohol Source: https://www.apohealth.de/products/criniton-anti-schuppen-haarwaschlotion-125-ml-losung-1580330 ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Paracelsus Magazin** (1998) — Company-anniversary article (issue 2/1998) on Dr. Atzinger Arzneimittel, Passau; names Criniton as the company's medical hair therapeutic for dandruff, psoriasis and scalp ringworm. — https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau ## Sources 2. (T2) https://www.kanzlsperger.de/ueber-uns/ 3. (T2) https://www.kanzlsperger.de/criniton-anti-schuppen-228030001.html 4. (T2) https://www.kanzlsperger.de/criniton-vet-228030005.html 5. (T2) http://www.dr-atzinger.de/ 6. (T3) https://www.paracelsus.de/magazin/ausgabe/199802/75-firmenjubilaeum-dr-atzinger-arzneimittel-passau 7. (T4) https://www.apohealth.de/products/criniton-anti-schuppen-haarwaschlotion-125-ml-losung-1580330 8. (T4) https://www.shop-apotheke.com/beauty/1580330/criniton-anti-schuppen.htm 9. (T4) https://www.northdata.com/Dr%C2%B7%20Atzinger%20GmbH%20&%20Co%C2%B7%20KG,%20Passau/HRA%2010274 --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-05 Please cite with a link to the article URL.