# Kaufmanns ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1950 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Bad Kreuznach | | Owner | Walter Kaufmann Nachf. GmbH | | Status | Active | | Manufacturing | Bad Kreuznach, Germany | | Distribution | Multi-channel | | Website | https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/ | Kaufmanns is a German skincare brand made by Walter Kaufmann Nachf. GmbH, a small manufacturer based in Bad Kreuznach in western Germany. The company dates its brands to 1950 [1]. Its range is short: a water-free cream for babies and sensitive skin, a richer cream for feet and body, and a tube version of the baby cream. All of them are built on petrolatum and paraffin oils, with lanolin and zinc oxide as the named active ingredients. Trade press has described its baby cream as a classic of German baby care, and the company presents it as a product trusted by midwives, paediatric nurses and paediatricians. That reputation has been tested in public. In 2021 and again in 2023, the German consumer magazine Öko-Test rated its best-known product, Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme, as "deficient" in comparisons of nappy-rash creams, mainly because of mineral-oil residues found in its paraffin base [8][6]. ## Origin & founders The brand traces its origins to Walter Kaufmann, the founder of the company that still carries his name. According to the company, Kaufmann worked for several years at a pharmaceutical firm before developing the formula for his cream "more than 70 years ago" [5]. The company has refined the recipe over time but describes the underlying idea as unchanged: a dense, water-free protective cream suitable for delicate skin. The company's own wording places the start of its brands in 1950, and its account of more than seven decades of history is consistent with that date. Beyond the founder's background in the pharmaceutical industry, the company publishes few details about its early years. It has no separate history page, and its account of itself is limited to a short company profile on its homepage. ## Ownership Kaufmanns is owned and produced by Walter Kaufmann Nachf. GmbH, the company that grew out of the founder's original business [1]. The company refers to its history as having passed through several generations, with its name still recalling the founder. The firm is registered at the local court in Bad Kreuznach, and its managing director is Michael Theisen [4]. It is a single-brand business rather than part of a larger cosmetics group, and no acquisitions or changes of ownership are documented. According to the company, both production and administration remain in Bad Kreuznach, a point it underlines with the line "Made with … in Bad Kreuznach" on its homepage [1]. ## Philosophy & positioning The company describes itself as a cosmetic brand manufacturer that has stayed true to a single philosophy through a changing market: making skincare for babies, children and adults. Its tagline, "Pflege für jung und alt", translates as "care for young and old", and reflects the way the products are pitched both at infants and at the whole family. Kaufmanns places much weight on its links to health professionals. The company says its brands appeal to midwives, paediatric nurses, paediatricians and parents alike, and it counts itself among the pioneers of professional skin care. On its product page it states that the baby cream has proved itself in medical practices and clinics and has been among the most recommended products of its kind for more than seven decades [2]. These are the company's own claims; no independent study or endorsement supporting them is documented. The brand's identity also rests on a deliberately simple, pharmaceutical-style formula. In a market it describes as constantly changing, it presents continuity as a strength, emphasising long experience, careful processing and tested raw materials. The company states that its ingredients comply with the EU Cosmetics Regulation and that its quality standards follow the European Pharmacopoeia, the reference book that sets purity standards for medicines in Europe. ## Products & innovation The range consists of three products. The core item is **Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme** ("skin and children's cream"), sold in a tin. The company describes it as a care cream specially developed for sensitive skin, suitable for every skin type and every part of the body. Its main stated use is in the nappy area, where the cream forms a long-lasting protective layer that keeps moisture away from the skin and helps prevent soreness. The second product, **Kaufmanns Fuss- und Körper-Creme** ("foot and body cream"), is described by the company as a full-fat cream intended to keep feet smooth and supple, protect the skin from drying out and form a protective film. The third, marketed as the **Wundertube** ("wonder tube"), is the baby cream in a tube with an angled nozzle, designed to make the cream easier to apply cleanly when travelling. Both creams share the same basic structure. According to the company, the base consists exclusively of pharmaceutical-grade paraffin oils and thick petrolatum (white petroleum jelly), chosen for purity and for the cream's consistency. The company adds that dermatologists often recommend paraffin oils for sensitive and allergy-prone skin. Two further ingredients are highlighted as the active components: - **Lanolin**, a waxy fat obtained from purified sheep's wool. The company says it can bind up to three times its own weight in water and closely resembles the skin's own fats. Because lanolin is an animal-derived ingredient, the creams are not vegan. - **Zinc oxide**, which the company describes as anti-inflammatory and moisture-binding, and as helping to keep harmful outside influences away from the skin. A distinctive feature of the formula is that it contains no water. The company explains that because production always takes place without water, no preservatives are needed [5]. Both creams are scented. The published ingredient list for the baby cream includes perfume together with individually listed fragrance components, among them substances regarded as fragrance allergens such as geraniol, alongside limonene, linalool, citral, citronellol, amyl cinnamal, vanillin and vitamin E (tocopherol). The foot and body cream adds citrus peel oils and geranium flower oil. This fragrance content later became one of the points raised by testers. No third-party certifications, patents or research partnerships are documented for the brand. ## Controversies Kaufmanns' paraffin-based formula has drawn criticism from Öko-Test, a German magazine that rates consumer products on the basis of laboratory analysis and ingredient assessment. In a test published in February 2021, Öko-Test examined 25 nappy-rash creams, ten of them certified natural cosmetics. Fifteen products were rated "very good" and eight "good"; only two failed with a "deficient" rating. The trade publication Apotheke Adhoc described the two failing products, Penaten Creme and Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme, as "two classics" [8]. According to the report, both contain petroleum-based paraffins and therefore aromatic mineral oil hydrocarbons, known as MOAH. Öko-Test pointed out that this group of substances can include carcinogenic compounds and considered the creams unsuitable for babies. The magazine also noted that MOAH can enter paraffin-free products as a contaminant, though usually only in low concentrations that it did not regard as a health risk. Two years later, Öko-Test repeated the comparison with 22 nappy-rash creams. Fourteen were rated "very good" and five "good". The three products with the lowest ratings all came from well-known manufacturers: Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme, Penaten Creme and Nivea Baby Pure & Sensitive Intensiv-Creme, which were rated "deficient" or "unsatisfactory" [6]. As reported by the Pharmazeutische Zeitung, a laboratory analysis found MOAH in all three. The test report stated that this group includes carcinogenic or mutagenic substances and that their presence in the creams could not be ruled out. It added that MOAH can be absorbed through the skin, while it remains unclear whether they accumulate in the body. All three products also contained perfume, which the testers consider unnecessary on irritated baby skin. The consumer portal Utopia singled out fragrance allergens such as geraniol in its coverage of the results [7]. The company's website does not address either test. It continues to describe its paraffin oils and petrolatum as meeting the highest standards of purity and quality, and to present the formula as well tolerated. ## Distribution Kaufmanns is sold mainly through pharmacies and drugstore chains. The company states that its products are available in, or can be ordered through, all pharmacies in Germany [3], and it lists large drugstore and supermarket chains such as dm, Rossmann, Müller, Rewe, Kaufland, Edeka and Globus as stockists, along with Amazon. In Austria, the products are carried by dm and Müller, by online pharmacies, and can be ordered through local pharmacies. No distribution beyond Germany and Austria is documented. ## Current status Kaufmanns is an active brand. As of October 2026, the company's website presents its current three-product range and an up-to-date list of stockists in Germany and Austria, and the creams continue to be offered by pharmacy retailers. The company also runs an Instagram account. No dated product launches or company news are publicly documented, and the most recent independent coverage of the brand dates from February 2023, when the second Öko-Test result was reported. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1950 | The brand dates its brands to 1950 ('Unsere Marken überzeugen seit 1950'). | https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/index.php | | 2021 | Öko-Test (reported 5 Feb 2021) rated Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme 'mangelhaft' in a test of 25 nappy-rash creams, citing petroleum paraffins/MOAH. | https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/nachrichten/detail/panorama/wundschutzcremes-auf-mineraloele-und-parfum-verzichten-oeko-test/ | | 2023 | Öko-Test (reported 23 Feb 2023) again rated Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme 'mangelhaft' in a test of 22 nappy-rash creams (MOAH, perfume). | https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/von-sehr-gut-bis-ungenuegend-138723/ | | — | 1950s: founder Walter Kaufmann developed the formula and filled the first jars by hand in his own cellar; he used a network of midwives to build the brand (retailer copy, low confidence). | https://www.shop-apotheke.at/marken/kaufmanns/ | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme** — Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme ist eine speziell entwickelte Pflegecreme für empfindliche Haut. — https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/produkte.php - **Kaufmanns Fuss- und Körper-Creme** — Deshalb entwickelten wir eine Vollfett-Creme, die Ihre Füße zuverlässig und wohltuend pflegt. — https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/produkte.php - **Wundertube (Haut- und Kinder-Creme in tube)** — Die langjährig bewährte Creme für jede Gelegenheit bieten wir auch in der praktischen Tube an. — https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/produkte.php ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} Lanolin (wool wax) · Zinc oxide Source: https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/inhaltsstoffe.php ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Pharmazeutische Zeitung** (2023) — Report on Öko-Test's test of 22 nappy-rash creams; Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme among three products from well-known makers rated 'mangelhaft'/'ungenügend' (MOAH found in lab analysis; contains perfume). — https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/von-sehr-gut-bis-ungenuegend-138723/ - **Utopia.de** (2023) — Öko-Test nappy-rash cream test: Kaufmanns (2,93 EUR/75 ml) rated 'mangelhaft'; MOAH from petroleum-based paraffins and fragrances incl. geraniol criticised. — https://utopia.de/ratgeber/wundschutzcremes-bei-oko-test-penaten-nivea-kaufmanns-krebs_474403/ - **Apotheke Adhoc** (2021) — Öko-Test test of 25 nappy-rash creams: Penaten Creme and Kaufmanns Haut- und Kinder-Creme, called 'zwei Klassiker', were the only two rated 'mangelhaft' (petroleum paraffins/MOAH). — https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/nachrichten/detail/panorama/wundschutzcremes-auf-mineraloele-und-parfum-verzichten-oeko-test/ ## Sources 1. (T1) https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/index.php 2. (T2) https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/produkte.php 3. (T2) https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/bezugsquellen.php 4. (T2) https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/impressum.php 5. (T2) https://www.kaufmanns-creme.de/inhaltsstoffe.php 6. (T3) https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/von-sehr-gut-bis-ungenuegend-138723/ 7. (T3) https://utopia.de/ratgeber/wundschutzcremes-bei-oko-test-penaten-nivea-kaufmanns-krebs_474403/ 8. (T3) https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/nachrichten/detail/panorama/wundschutzcremes-auf-mineraloele-und-parfum-verzichten-oeko-test/ --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-13 Please cite with a link to the article URL.