PAINEX

PAINEX is a German line of skin-care, body-care and over-the-counter health products made by Hofmann & Sommer GmbH und Co. KG, a family-owned pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Königsee, Thuringia. The company lists PAINEX as one of its four product brands, alongside Hofmann's, ABO and TATAR. The range pairs a handful of everyday skin-care staples, among them a calendula Melkfett, a Vaseline and a tea tree oil, with a menthol rub for muscles and joints, a herbal pain cream, cold remedies and vitamin supplements.

PAINEX has no separate company, founder or public launch date of its own. It exists as a product brand inside a much older pharmaceutical business, and its character follows that parent's focus on practical, largely plant-based remedies from Thuringia. The line remains active and is still listed in the owner's current product overview.

PAINEX belongs to Hofmann & Sommer, which names itself as the manufacturer on the brand's product pages [7]. The parent company was founded on 15 December 1906 by the merchant Franz Hofmann and his sister Anna Sommer [4]. That date belongs to the company rather than to PAINEX; no launch year for the PAINEX line itself has been published.

Hofmann & Sommer traces its background to a regional trade. According to the company, the area around Königsee in the Thuringian Slate Mountains was known from the 16th century for herbs and "Olitäten" — distilled waters, juices, healing oils and balms — which travelling sellers carried on foot to many parts of Europe. The early family business made ointments, plasters, balms, toothpaste, eau de Cologne and spirit-based products.

The firm's twentieth century was shaped by East German politics. After the Second World War, Paul Hofmann, a nephew of the founders, turned the workshop into an industrial manufacturer. In 1958 it was forced to accept a state shareholder. The company registered the disinfectant trademark Sepso in 1962, followed by the antifungal Cellichnol and Ohropax in 1969. In 1972 it was nationalised and run as "VEB Pharmazeutika Königsee" [4]. Barbara Fischer, Paul Hofmann's daughter, stayed on as works manager and, according to the company, tripled sales during that decade through modernisation and new products. In the early 1980s the plant was absorbed into larger state combines, and in 1984 production of pharmaceutical liquids in Königsee stopped; the site went on making only Ohropax and chemical-agent detection foils for the East German army. Fischer left the firm the following year. After German reunification the company regained its independence in 1991, and in 1993 Barbara Fischer, a granddaughter of the founders, completed its reprivatisation [2]. Production restarted on 1 July 1993 with ten employees. Under Dr. Ernst-Josef Strätling the group grew to close to 100 staff and won back traditional trademarks such as Cidegol, Dreierlei-Tropfen, Melissengeist, Melival and Sepso. New business lines followed, including contract manufacturing for retail chains and around 2,000 homeopathic combination remedies. Since 2001 the company has also funded a "travelling medicinal herb prize" awarded by the town of Königsee.

Today the group has its headquarters and manufacturing in Königsee, a research and development office in Berlin-Adlershof, and a subsidiary in Pößneck, Pharmachem, which handles logistics and runs a factory outlet. The company describes Pharmachem as a centre of expertise for ointments, creams and emulsions. The two sources differ on how that unit came about. Hofmann & Sommer says Pharmachem was set up in 2007 to take over the pharmaceutical production of Pharma GmbH Pößneck [5], while the German pharmacy trade outlet apotheke adhoc reported in 2016 that Pharma Pößneck, a firm founded by pharmacists, was taken over in 2008 [11]. Which plant makes the PAINEX products is not stated publicly.

The same 2016 report described Hofmann & Sommer as a company of around 80 employees with sales of roughly €9 million, known in pharmacies mainly for the former East German brands Dreierlei-Tropfen and Hingfong, and as a producer of goods for Rossmann's own label Altapharma [11]. The company marks its 120th anniversary in 2026. Its guiding motto, "Wir haben es bewahrt – denn es hat sich bewährt", translates roughly as "We have preserved it, because it has proven itself" [2].

PAINEX has no published mission statement, tagline or brand philosophy of its own. Its identity comes through the products: plain, functional household items named for what they are rather than grouped into styled sub-lines. The owner presents its wider portfolio as proven medicines from Thuringia and describes its products as companions across generations.

The line sits between the cosmetics shelf and the medicine cabinet. Of the ten PAINEX products the company lists, three are labelled as skin care, one as care for muscles, joints and skin circulation, and the rest as remedies for colds, a pain treatment and dietary supplements for the immune system [3]. That mix mirrors Hofmann & Sommer itself, whose range spans herbal medicines, homeopathic preparations, cosmetics, medicinal baths, supplements and, since 2014, food products.

The best-documented item is PAINEX Melkfett Ringelblume, a 250 ml skin-care ointment whose name combines the German words for "milking grease" and calendula. The company says it is made to a traditional recipe with calendula extract and vitamin E, and describes it as protecting and caring for stressed skin against cold and dryness, as well as for cracked, dry lips [7]. The company adds that it has proven useful for skin irritation and minor wounds. Its listed ingredients are petrolatum, liquid paraffin, soybean oil, calendula extract, vitamin E acetate, sunflower seed oil, fragrance and beta-carotene. It is classified as a cosmetic.

The other skin-care products are PAINEX Vaseline and PAINEX Teebaumöl, a tea tree oil. PAINEX Franzbranntwein Menthol, a menthol rub, is listed for muscles, joints and skin circulation. Together, calendula, tea tree oil and menthol are the ingredients most closely associated with the line.

PAINEX Schmerzcreme Hofmann's carries both brand names. Unlike the skin-care items, it is a herbal medicine sold only in pharmacies under German rules, not a cosmetic. The company describes it as an anti-inflammatory ointment based on plant actives — peppermint, eucalyptus and rosemary oils — for the external treatment of muscle and joint pain and the supportive treatment of rheumatic complaints [8].

The remaining products are health items rather than beauty products: PAINEX Fenchelhonig SN, a fennel honey syrup for colds; sage lozenges with vitamin C; and Multivitamin, Zinc Vitamin C and Magnesium supplements. An independent online pharmacy's brand page lists eight PAINEX items, from the Melkfett, Vaseline and two sizes of tea tree oil to the lozenges, syrup and supplements, all credited to Hofmann & Sommer [12].

No third-party certifications, vegan or free-from claims, or proprietary technologies are documented for the line.

PAINEX is active. The line is still listed in Hofmann & Sommer's current product overview. The brand issues no news of its own; the most recent activity from its owner is a news post dated 6 September 2026 about the Barbara Fischer volunteer award, which the company sponsors in Königsee. Germany is the documented market for PAINEX. Hofmann & Sommer says it exports to numerous regions of the world, generally working through partnerships with local distributors, but it does not name PAINEX in that context [10].