Marbert

Marbert is a German skincare and cosmetics brand founded in Düsseldorf in 1936 [1]. It was created by the beautician Margarethe Sendler and the physician Dr. Bertha Roeber, and its name is a contraction of their first names — Margarethe and Bertha [8]. Counted among the oldest cosmetics companies in Germany, Marbert built its early reputation on skincare with stated ingredients and defined effects rather than the perfume-styled creams common at the time.

Since November 2011 the brand has belonged to Straub GmbH, a family-run cosmetics manufacturer in Wertheim, after the previous Marbert business went insolvent [12]. It now operates as one of Straub's own brands, with products developed and produced at the Wertheim facility and sold across Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries.

According to the company's own account, Sendler was struck that skin creams of the era "mostly have flower names, but no information about their purpose and ingredients" [11]. Together with her friend Roeber she set out to develop a different kind of cream, with targeted formulas and clearly described effects. The brand summarises that founding idea as "effective care by women for women" [8].

Most sources, including the current brand site and Dutch and German retailer pages, give the founding year as 1936. One German industry account instead dates the company to 1935 [11]; the brand's own stated year of 1936 is followed here. The founders are consistently named as Sendler and Roeber across sources.

Marbert positioned itself early as an educator as well as a maker. According to a Dutch retailer's heritage page, in 1948 it became the first German cosmetics company to offer training and consultation in beauty and skincare [10]. In 1958 it was recognised as a leading German brand for special cosmetics, receiving a medal at the Brussels World Exhibition (Expo 58).

In 1968 the brand entered the Dutch market and was acquired by Hoechst AG, the large German chemical group, which expanded its reach [10]. The company broadened beyond skincare into fragrance, launching its men's cologne Marbert Man in 1977; the scent was composed by the perfumer Raymond Chaillan.

The decades that followed brought a series of owners. Hoechst sold Marbert to the Italian Perform Group in 1995, and the company went public in 1997 [11]. Industry reporting from the period recorded sales rising from about 41.9 million to 87.2 million US dollars between 1995 and 1998 as the business expanded through retail acquisitions [18]. In 2004 the brand passed to the French financial investor Essence Trademark [17], and by 2009 it was held within Beauty Brands International (BBI) in Baden-Baden.

That phase ended in insolvency. In May 2011 Marbert Holding and Marbert Cosmetics filed for insolvency; one industry account notes that the incoming management filed criminal charges against the former leadership, alleging the financial situation had been misrepresented [11]. On 1 November 2011 Straub GmbH of Wertheim took over BBI and Marbert, becoming the new majority owner.

Straub GmbH, the current parent, is a family-run business founded in 1949 and now in its third generation. At the time of the 2011 takeover, trade press described Marbert as "a perfect complement" to Straub's existing range, with a plan to develop and produce the full Marbert portfolio in Wertheim and to grow the brand in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands [12]. Marbert sits alongside Bettina Barty as one of the group's proprietary brands.

The arrangement has not been without strain. In September 2024 the parent reported entering a restructuring course ("Sanierungskurs"), covered by the trade publication Lebensmittelzeitung [6].

Marbert presents itself around the founders' original premise: effective, honest skincare matched to individual skin types and ages. The company says it does not "promise overnight miracles" but aims for products that "deliver what you expect," and lists reliability, controlled quality, fair pricing and honesty among its values. The brand is sold mainly through perfumeries and drugstores at mid-range prices rather than in prestige department-store channels, and the parent group exports cosmetics to more than 70 countries.

Marbert's range spans facial skincare, bath and body products, men's lines and fragrance. Its skincare is organised into named systems — among them Aqua Booster, described by the company as offering 24-hour hydration with three types of hyaluronic acid; Lifting Booster, built around the peptide SYN-AKE; and No More Red, aimed at redness and rosacea-prone skin. A separate Phyto Cell line addresses hormone-related skin changes around menopause.

The anti-ageing system Profutura is a longstanding signature. The brand states that it applied for a patent on the Profutura anti-wrinkle agent, developed in-house in the early 1990s, and that this was followed by its Hydro-Booster Technology in 2006 [16]. In fragrance, the 1977 cologne Marbert Man remains a heritage product, later reissued in reformulated versions. A newer line, Miss Stellar, was introduced in 2025/2026.

Marbert products are manufactured in Germany at Straub's Wertheim site, which the company describes as covering roughly 20,000 square metres of production and office space. The brand emphasises German manufacturing and environmentally conscious processes. The Wertheim facility holds certifications including COSMOS for natural and organic cosmetics (covering specific lines) and a climate-neutral production credential, and reports sourcing under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil standard.

Beyond the 1958 Expo 58 medal, Marbert's documented recognition is limited. Its later appearances in the press centre on ownership changes and corporate events rather than product awards, including coverage in Handelsblatt, Women's Wear Daily, EPC News and Lebensmittelzeitung.

Marbert is active and operates as an acquired brand under Straub GmbH, which has owned it since 2011. It maintains an online shop and European distribution, and the most recent product activity is the Miss Stellar line launched in 2025/2026. The acquisition timeline reflects more than half a century of changing ownership — from Hoechst to the Perform Group, Essence Trademark and BBI before Straub — and the parent group entered a publicly reported restructuring phase in 2024.