Hametum

Hametum is a German range of over-the-counter medicines and medical skin-care products built around a single plant ingredient, Virginia witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). It belongs to Dr. Willmar Schwabe, the Karlsruhe-based maker of plant-based medicines, and traces its origin to a witch-hazel salve that the company's founder introduced in his Leipzig pharmacy in 1878 [1]. The owner's corporate timeline places the first witch-hazel product somewhat earlier, in 1872 [6].

The range has two halves. The better-known one treats the early stages of haemorrhoids with an ointment, suppositories and related hygiene products; the other, grouped as Hametum Haut ("skin"), covers minor wounds and dry, sensitive skin. The brand is active, and its products are sold without a prescription.

Hametum has no founder of its own. Its story is that of the pharmacist Dr. Carl Emil Willmar Schwabe, who founded the company that still bears his name. According to Hametum's official site, Schwabe learned of the healing reputation of Virginia witch hazel, a North American shrub, in the mid-19th century, and in 1878 began offering a salve containing the plant in his Leipzig pharmacy.

The salve was not yet called Hametum. A caption in the German Wikipedia article on the parent company refers to it as "Hamamelis-Salbe-Schwabe", Schwabe's witch-hazel salve, from 1878 onward [7]. The brand says the salve's popularity then grew quickly, and that about half a century after its introduction the Hametum name was entered in the German trademark register [1]. No exact year for that registration has been published.

How old Hametum is depends on which product is taken as the starting point. Hametum's own website dates the line to the 1878 salve [1]. The history page of the Schwabe Group, the brand's owner, instead describes a witch-hazel extract that was first marketed as a plant-based medicine in a year it labels 1872 and that, in the group's words, "evolved into Hametum® ointment" [6]. Schwabe's German product pages bridge the two accounts: they say the Hametum extract came first and that the wound and healing salve followed in 1878 as a second preparation [3]. This article follows the brand's own 1878 date as the founding year, while noting the earlier extract.

The brand's path has run alongside that of its parent. Schwabe set up his company in Leipzig in 1866, at the age of 26. By 1926 it had grown to 300 employees and moved into a new facility in the Leipzig suburb of Paunsdorf. By 1946 the company was working from a new site in Karlsruhe-Durlach, where, according to the group, it turned increasingly towards research and development of plant-based medicines.

Throughout these moves the witch-hazel products stayed in the portfolio. Hametum says its preparations are still made and packaged in Germany and describes them as carrying more than 145 years of established quality. The skin range is promoted with a similar line, "Heilung seit über 140 Jahren" ("healing for over 140 years").

More recent activity has centred on pharmacies. In 2017 Schwabe placed a sponsored piece in the German pharmacy trade outlet apotheke adhoc promoting a short Hametum online training course for pharmacy staff, combined with a prize draw [8].

Hametum is owned and manufactured by Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG of Karlsruhe, part of the Dr. Willmar Schwabe group. According to German Wikipedia, the group's parent company is Dr. Schwabe Deutschland Holding GmbH, whose subsidiaries make and sell plant-based medicines, homeopathic remedies and food supplements; the article gives the group 1,516 employees and revenue of €375.1 million in 2021 [7].

The founding family still runs the business. In 2016 Olaf Schwabe, the great-great-grandson of the founder, took over leadership of the group [6]. Hametum's sister brands include DHU, and the Wikipedia article names Tebonin (ginkgo), Umckaloabo (pelargonium root), Prostagutt, Lasea (lavender oil) and Pinimenthol among the group's better-known brands.

Hametum presents itself as a plant-based medicine brand rather than a cosmetics label. Every product rests on witch hazel, used either as a distillate of the leaves and twigs or as a leaf extract. The company argues that the plant has uses beyond its main application: according to Hametum, witch hazel not only helps treat haemorrhoids but also calms irritated, sensitive skin and supports wound healing. The skin range carries the tagline "Wenn die Haut Hilfe braucht" ("When the skin needs help").

The brand's home page opens with a health message rather than a beauty one, stating that roughly one person in three develops enlarged haemorrhoids at some point in life. Schwabe's director of medical affairs, Dr. Nora Beutelmann, is quoted there on how the plant ingredient can ease burning and itching.

Because several Hametum products are licensed medicines, the way the brand communicates is shaped by German drug law. Its website notes that all products are available without a prescription, that use during pregnancy should be discussed with a doctor and limited to two weeks, and that free samples cannot be handed out for regulatory reasons.

The haemorrhoid line is the core of the range. Hametum Hämorrhoidensalbe, an ointment containing 62.5 mg of witch-hazel leaf and twig distillate per gram, and Hametum Hämorrhoidenzäpfchen, suppositories with 400 mg of leaf extract each, are both intended to relieve symptoms in the early stages of haemorrhoids. The two are also sold together as a set, with the ointment meant for daytime and the suppository for night.

Two hygiene products complete this side of the range. A medical cleansing foam with witch-hazel extract is, by the brand's description, free from preservatives, dyes and alcohol and dermatologically tested. Moist care wipes with witch-hazel extract are offered as an alternative to toilet paper.

The skin range has two products. Hametum Wund- und Heilsalbe, the direct descendant of the 1878 salve, is a licensed medicine for minor skin injuries, grazes and small areas of inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes. Schwabe says it supports healing, eases itching and inflammation and stops minor bleeding. The company also cites a 2005 study in which twice-daily use over four weeks improved skin moisture and skin oil content in people with diagnosed dry skin [5].

Its companion, Hametum Medizinische Hautpflege, is a medical skin-care product for dry, sensitive and mature skin. Schwabe states that it is vegan, suitable for adults and for children from the age of three, produced to the standards used for making medicines, and available only in pharmacies [4]. The witch hazel in it, the company says, comes from North American forests. No third-party certifications are documented for the brand.

Hametum is an active brand. As of October 2026, its German-language website and the Hametum Haut pages on schwabe.de presented the current range, including the haemorrhoid set, the cleansing foam, the moist wipes and the two skin products, together with the mandatory medicine notices. The products carry the name of Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG in Karlsruhe as manufacturer, and the brand gives Germany as the place where they are made and packed.