# Dreluso ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1938 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Hessisch Oldendorf (Lower Saxony, near Hameln) | | Status | Active | | Previous names | Laboratorium pharmazeutischer Erzeugnisse Dr. Elten & Sohn | | Manufacturing | Hessisch Oldendorf, Lower Saxony, Germany | | Distribution | Pharmacy | | Website | https://dreluso.de/ | Dreluso is a German manufacturer of naturopathic medicines based in Hessisch Oldendorf, a small town in the Weserbergland region of Lower Saxony, near Hameln. The company traces its founding to 1938, when a father and son who ran the town pharmacy set up a small production laboratory alongside the town pharmacy [2]. Its name is an acronym of the original firm, **Dr**. **El**ten **u**nd **So**hn. Most of what Dreluso makes is medicine rather than cosmetics: homeopathic complex remedies, herbal preparations and health products, numbering around 30 in total. Alongside them sits a small skin-care line of three products built on traditional medicinal plants: a marigold ointment, an arnica gel and a comfrey balm. The company is owner-managed and independent, makes everything in its own facility in Hessisch Oldendorf, and sells its products through pharmacies. ## Origin & founders Dreluso grew out of the Privilegierte Löwen-Apotheke, a pharmacy in Hessisch Oldendorf. Dr. Paul Elten and his son Paul Elten took over the pharmacy in 1937 [9]. Within a year they had turned part of the business into a manufacturing operation, registered under the name "Laboratorium pharmazeutischer Erzeugnisse Dr. Elten & Sohn" [2]. According to the company's own history, Dr. Paul Elten specialised from the start in herbal preparations and homeopathic remedies. Drawing on his knowledge of plants, he began putting together combinations of homeopathic ingredients. Dreluso says that many of these early combinations became the basis of its present-day complex remedies, and a regional business magazine noted in 2019 that some of the early formulas were still being produced [9]. ## History & milestones The company's first proper production site came after the war. In 1946 a laboratory was built onto the pharmacy, and two years later the manufacturing operation was registered as a separate company. When Dr. Paul Elten died, his son, the pharmacist Paul Elten, continued to expand the business. The company credits him with turning what had been a small workshop into a respected firm. The third generation arrived in 1977, when Dr. Holger Elten joined the company. He took over its management in 1984. In 1991 the business adopted its current name, Dreluso Pharmazeutika Dr. Elten & Sohn GmbH, condensing the family name into a single word [2]. The last two decades brought a second line of business. Since 2009 Dreluso has also worked as a contract manufacturer for other pharmaceutical companies, taking on jobs such as filling liquid medicines and special packaging [9]. Its contract-manufacturing arm, which operates under its own web presence, describes a steady build-out: revenue from this work doubled in 2011, an additional production hall was bought in 2012, and in 2015 the service was given its own branding as a separate profit centre. Since 2018 the company has also offered the serialisation of prescription medicines required under EU Directive 2011/62/EU. In 2020 a new 750-square-metre production hall was commissioned, designed with energy efficiency in mind [6]. Today the company employs 32 people, according to its website, working in production, quality control, administration and research and development [2]. Other descriptions give slightly different figures: the company's 2025 product compendium mentions around 30 staff, and the 2019 magazine profile spoke of more than 30. ## Ownership Dreluso has remained in private hands throughout its history and has never been acquired by another group. For three generations it was run by the Elten family. In 2011, to secure the company's future, Dr. Holger Elten installed two long-serving managers, Dr. Thomas Köhler and Thorsten Heuer, as managing partners and co-owners [2]. The company continues to describe itself as an independent, owner-managed business, and Thorsten Heuer signs the foreword of its current product compendium as managing director. ## Philosophy & positioning Dreluso presents itself under the heading "Im Einklang mit der Natur", or "in harmony with nature". Its stated mission is to preserve and pass on knowledge of the healing powers of nature, and its tagline reads "Natürlich – Arzneien von Dreluso" ("Naturally – medicines from Dreluso"). The company says that nature is the foundation of human existence and that its task is to value nature's gifts and use them responsibly. In practice this philosophy shapes how the company describes its sourcing. Dreluso says it knows the origin of its raw materials: all plant ingredients come from specialised, certified growers, and it weighs fair dealings with suppliers alongside sustainable cultivation. It also aims to buy raw materials and packaging within Germany where possible, a policy it links both to supporting the domestic economy and to staying able to deliver during international crises. Production, the company stresses, stays in its own plant in Hessisch Oldendorf. Dreluso positions its work firmly within naturopathy. It states that the effectiveness of its products rests on experience-based knowledge combined with scientific findings, and it describes most of its products as based on traditional formulas used in therapy for many years. In the foreword to its 2025 compendium, the company acknowledges what it calls a growing headwind in recent years against almost every branch of naturopathy, and says it has nonetheless kept its long-established preparations on the market while developing new ones [7]. It is a member of ANME, the Association for Natural Medicine in Europe, and supports an initiative of FAKOM, a professional society for complex homeopathy, to preserve a variety of therapy options. The company addresses health professionals directly. Its website has a login area for medical professionals, and it runs webinars and training sessions on its products. ## Products & innovation The core of the range is around 30 medicines and health products containing close to 100 active ingredients, from plant extracts to homeopathic substances. The company groups them by area: airways, the immune system, metabolism, kidneys and urinary tract, heart and circulation, the musculoskeletal system, and stress, nervousness and sleep problems, with a further product for menopause. Many carry names ending in "-select", such as Bronchiselect, Sinuselect N, Sedaselect and the Bitterselect series of bitter-herb products. The range also includes Gelum drops and products sold under the Vater Philipps name. Production combines modern equipment with older methods. The company says that its homeopathic preparations are still partly made using traditional shaking by hand. Manufacturing follows GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) rules for medicines, and an in-house laboratory tests raw materials, intermediate and finished products for quality and for chemical and microbiological stability before release. Dreluso's three skin-care products are the part of the range closest to beauty and personal care. Each comes in a 50 ml size: - **Ringelblumen-Salbe** (marigold ointment) is described by the company as a soothing ointment for dry, stressed, reddened and cracked skin. It is based on marigold (calendula) extract with olive, jojoba and sunflower seed oils and shea butter; several plant ingredients are marked in the ingredient list as being of organic origin. The company says the high proportion of organic marigold extract supports the skin's natural repair process. - **Arnika-Gel** is a cooling gel with arnica flower extract, which the company recommends for skin care after bruises, sprains and other blunt injuries, for muscle and joint complaints, and after sunburn or insect bites. - **Beinwell-Balsam** is a balm containing comfrey extract together with olive, jojoba and sunflower seed oils, intended for applying over large areas of skin on tired legs, after physical exertion, and for muscle, joint and bone complaints. According to the company, both the arnica gel and the comfrey balm are made without dyes, parabens or mineral-oil ingredients such as petroleum jelly or paraffin. The certification status of the skin-care line is not consistent across the company's own documents. A Ringelblumen-Salbe leaflet dated December 2018 states that the ointment carries the BDIH label for certified natural cosmetics [8]. The 2025 compendium names no such label, saying only that the product meets the requirements for natural cosmetics [7]. No current, brand-wide certification for the skin-care line is documented. ## Sustainability Dreluso is a member of the Bündnis klimaneutrales Weserbergland, an alliance that aims to reach climate-neutral production step by step by 2030 at the latest [7]. The company says it uses green electricity and offsets its gas use. It has also been certified as a "Fahrradfreundlicher Arbeitgeber" (cycling-friendly employer) by the ADFC, at bronze level [3]. The company frames these steps as part of a wider sustainability strategy that, in its words, must also cover social aspects such as fair working conditions and equal opportunities. Locally, it has sponsored youth football teams and an individual judoka, and has donated to a children's day nursery in Hessisch Oldendorf. It also supports Naturheilpraxis ohne Grenzen, an association offering naturopathic help and counselling to people affected by poverty and social exclusion. ## Recognition Dreluso's ADFC "cycling-friendly employer" certification is the only formal distinction it lists; the company states that it was the first business in its home district to receive it. In 2019 the company was profiled in "Der Name der Firma", a column on company names in Niedersächsische Wirtschaft, the regional business magazine of the IHK Hannover chamber of commerce, which retraced its history from the 1937 pharmacy takeover onwards. ## Current status Dreluso is active. As of autumn 2026, its website listed trade-congress appearances in September 2026 and a digital training course for Gelum product advisers scheduled for November 2026 [1]. The company published an updated product compendium in March 2025, and it states that all of its products are available through pharmacies. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1937 | Dr. Paul Elten and his son Paul take over the Privilegierte Löwen-Apotheke in Hessisch Oldendorf | https://archiv.nw-ihk.de/2019/02/der-name-der-firma-dreluso/ | | 1938 | Manufacturing operation 'Laboratorium pharmazeutischer Erzeugnisse Dr. Elten & Sohn' founded | https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ | | 1946 | First production facility, a laboratory, built onto the pharmacy | https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ | | 1948 | Production facility registered as an independent company | https://dreluso.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DrelusoKompendium.pdf | | 1950 | Death of Dr. Paul Elten; pharmacist Paul Elten expands the business | https://dreluso.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DrelusoKompendium.pdf | | 1977 | Dr. Holger Elten (third generation) joins the company | https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ | | 1984 | Dr. Holger Elten takes over management | https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ | | 1991 | Company renamed Dreluso Pharmazeutika Dr. Elten & Sohn GmbH (Dreluso = acronym of Dr. Elten und Sohn) | https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ | | 2009 | Starts contract manufacturing (Lohnherstellung) for pharmaceutical companies | https://archiv.nw-ihk.de/2019/02/der-name-der-firma-dreluso/ | | 2011 | Long-time managers Dr. Thomas Köhler and Thorsten Heuer become managing partners and co-owners | https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ | | 2011 | Ownership succession (not an acquisition by another company): Dr. Holger Elten installed long-time managers Dr. Thomas Köhler and Thorsten Heuer as managing partners and co-owners | https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ | | 2018 | Begins offering serialisation of prescription medicines (contract services) | https://www.dreluso-lohnherstellung.de/en/about-dreluso.htm | | 2020 | New 750 m² production hall commissioned | https://www.dreluso-lohnherstellung.de/en/about-dreluso.htm | ## Certifications {#belagg-certifications} - **Bdih** — “Mit dem BDIH-Label für kontrollierte Naturkosmetik.” — https://www.onlineapo.at/uploads/leaflets/5209868_RingelblumenSalbe.pdf ## Awards {#belagg-awards} | Year | Awards | Category | Source | |---|---|---|---| | — | ADFC 'Fahrradfreundlicher Arbeitgeber' (Bronze) | Employer certification (cycling-friendly employer, EU-wide scheme); brand states it was the first company in its home district to receive it | https://dreluso.de/nachhaltigkeit/ | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Ringelblumen-Salbe** — Die hautberuhigende RingelblumenSalbe von Dreluso eignet sich zur Pflege bei trockener, beanspruchter, geröteter und rissiger Haut. — https://dreluso.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DrelusoKompendium.pdf - **Arnika-Gel** — Das angenehm erfrischende Arnika-Gel von Dreluso dient zur Pflege der Haut bei stumpfen Verletzungen sowie bei Muskel- und Gelenkbeschwerden. — https://dreluso.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DrelusoKompendium.pdf - **Beinwell-Balsam** — Der pflegende und wohltuende BeinwellBalsam von Dreluso dient zur großflächigen Pflege der Haut bei müden Beinen — https://dreluso.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DrelusoKompendium.pdf ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} Calendula officinalis extract (organic marigold) · Arnica montana flower extract · Symphytum officinale (comfrey) extract · Olive oil · Jojoba oil · Sunflower seed oil Source: https://dreluso.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DrelusoKompendium.pdf ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Niedersächsische Wirtschaft (IHK Hannover regional business magazine), column 'Der Name der Firma'** (2019) — Company-name history: origin in the Löwen-Apotheke (taken over 1937), acronym of Dr. Elten und Sohn, 2011 succession, more than 30 employees, about 30 homeopathic and herbal medicines, contract manufacturing since 2009 — https://archiv.nw-ihk.de/2019/02/der-name-der-firma-dreluso/ ## Sources 1. (T1) https://dreluso.de/ 2. (T1) https://dreluso.de/unternehmen/ 3. (T2) https://dreluso.de/nachhaltigkeit/ 6. (T2) https://www.dreluso-lohnherstellung.de/en/about-dreluso.htm 7. (T2) https://dreluso.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/DrelusoKompendium.pdf 8. (T2) https://www.onlineapo.at/uploads/leaflets/5209868_RingelblumenSalbe.pdf 9. (T4) https://archiv.nw-ihk.de/2019/02/der-name-der-firma-dreluso/ --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-05 Please cite with a link to the article URL.