# Sabona ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1929 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Kleve | | Owner | MIT Gesundheit GmbH | | Status | Active | | Distribution | Pharmacy | | Website | https://www.sabona.de/ | Sabona is a small German brand of herbal medicines and natural cosmetics, run today as a department of MIT Gesundheit GmbH, a pharmaceutical services company based in Kleve in western Germany [4]. The company says the Sabona name has stood for expertise in naturopathy since 1929 [1], and it traces its roots further back still, to the Schützen-Apotheke, a Munich pharmacy it describes as the city's oldest. Most of the Sabona range consists of plant-based medicines rather than beauty products. Its one cosmetic is the Sabona Bodycreme, a body cream built around avocado oil, witch hazel, panthenol and vitamin E. The brand remains on sale, though its public presence is modest: its website has carried little dated news for many years. ## Origin & founders Sabona's own account of its beginnings rests on two dates. The first is 1398, the year the company gives for the founding of the Schützen-Apotheke in Munich, the pharmacy it says the brand is "firmly rooted" in [1]. That date belongs to the pharmacy, not to Sabona itself. The second is 1929, which the company presents as the year from which the Sabona name has been associated with naturopathy, the tradition of treating illness with plant remedies and other natural means. This article follows 1929 as the brand's founding year. According to the brand, its range is therefore the product of "tradition and experience" built up over centuries, combined with current knowledge from therapy and practice. The people who created Sabona in 1929 are not named in any public account, and the exact nature of its link to the Munich pharmacy is not described beyond the company's own statement. How the brand moved from its Munich origins to its present home in Kleve, on the Lower Rhine, is also not publicly documented. ## Ownership Sabona is not a separate company. The legal notice on its website describes it as "Sabona-Naturarzneimittel, Abteilung der MIT Gesundheit GmbH", that is, a department of MIT Gesundheit, and gives the parent's registered seat as Kleve [4]. The same notice lists Dr. F. J. Merges and Oliver Merges as managing directors. MIT Gesundheit describes itself as a family business founded by Dr. Josef Merges. By its own account, it started out in a garage with a single employee, a secretary, and began operating in 1994 as a consulting office for medicinal products [10]. It later added pharmacovigilance, the ongoing monitoring of medicines for new or unexpected side effects, carried out on behalf of client companies. The firm says it has offered regulatory and drug-safety services since 1993 and has been active in the European Union since 1998 as a pharmaceutical distributor that develops and markets natural products as well as chemically defined medicines [10]. It reports a team of around 20 people with backgrounds in pharmacy, medicine, biology and IT. The parent company's own history does not mention Sabona by name. When and how the brand came under MIT Gesundheit has not been made public. ## Philosophy & positioning Sabona positions itself first as a maker of herbal medicines, known in German as Naturarzneimittel or phytopharmaceuticals. On its website, the company explains that these are medicines whose active substances come only from plants, plant parts or preparations made from them, and that under German medicines law they must show proof of quality, effectiveness and safety before receiving an approval number [5]. The brand sets out a short list of principles for its "Natur-Produkte". It says the products contain the full range of a medicinal plant's substances rather than single isolated compounds, and that they are made with natural auxiliary ingredients wherever possible, without shortening shelf life [1]. The company also says it avoids sugar and alcohol as far as it can, so that the preparations can be taken by children, people with diabetes and people recovering from alcohol dependence. It states that every ingredient is listed, so that known allergies or intolerances can be spotted early, and that its medicines are approved by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), Germany's medicines regulator. Sabona sums up its own products as effective, well tolerated and reasonably priced. It argues more broadly that plant-based medicines often cause fewer side effects than synthetic drugs and are well suited to self-medication and long-term use in mild to moderate chronic conditions, while acute and life-threatening illnesses are usually treated with synthetic drugs [5]. These are the company's own positions. On cosmetics, Sabona takes a cautious line on terminology. It notes that there is still no uniform definition of natural cosmetics, and describes its own natural cosmetics as products in which almost all ingredients are of plant origin [2]. ## Products & innovation The Sabona range is split into two groups on the brand's website: natural medicines and natural cosmetics. The medicines side lists TOP-Sabona Creme under the heading for the musculoskeletal system. The cosmetics side holds a single product, the Sabona Bodycreme. The company describes the Bodycreme as a cream with natural ingredients for caring for the skin, and names four key components: avocado oil, witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), panthenol and vitamin E [3]. According to Sabona, avocado oil smooths dry and flaky skin, vitamin E provides cell protection, and panthenol increases the skin's elasticity and supports the renewal of skin cells. The product page also mentions bisabolol, a compound found in chamomile, which the company says has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. Sabona notes that the soothing effect of witch hazel has been used for centuries by Indigenous peoples of North America. Taken together, the brand says, these ingredients help protect sensitive and stressed skin from harmful environmental influences. For its herbal medicines, Sabona describes a multi-stage extraction process. An extract is drawn from the relevant plant parts, purified and concentrated, and then made into capsules, film-coated tablets or drops. The company says this approach lets it enrich the active substances, remove unwanted ones and keep the concentration and quality constant. It stresses the choice of plant species and plant part, growing location, soil quality and defined conditions for cultivation and harvest as the basis of product quality. The company also states that the extracts used in its Natur-Produkte have been tested both in laboratory experiments and in clinical studies examining effectiveness and tolerability [5]. It does not name the studies, and the statement refers to the plant extracts in its medicines rather than specifically to the Bodycreme. No third-party certifications for the cosmetic are documented. ## Current status Sabona is active. In September 2026 the Sabona Bodycreme was still on sale as an over-the-counter cream in a 75 ml size, listed under a German pharmaceutical product number (PZN) with MIT Gesundheit named as the maker [11]. The parent company's own website was also live. The brand's outward presence is limited, however. The Sabona website is an older build whose most recent dated item is a welcome article from July 2014 [9], and no new launches or news from the past year are visible. The online shop linked from the site was not accessible in September 2026. Sabona's activity appears to be concentrated in Germany, where its products carry German regulatory approvals and pharmacy listings. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1398 | Founding of the Schützen-Apotheke in Munich, the pharmacy Sabona says it is rooted in (a milestone of the pharmacy, not of the brand itself) | https://www.sabona.de/ | | 1929 | The Sabona name has been in use since 1929 (brand's own statement) | https://www.sabona.de/ | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Sabona Bodycreme** — Eine Creme mit natürlichen Inhaltsstoffen für die Pflege Ihrer Haut — https://www.sabona.de/index.php/produkte/kosmetik ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} Avocadoöl · Hamamelis virginiana (Zaubernuss) · Panthenol · Vitamin E Source: https://www.sabona.de/index.php/produkte/kosmetik ## Sources 1. (T1) https://www.sabona.de/ 2. (T1) https://www.sabona.de/index.php/natur-kosmetik/was-ist-natur-kosmetik 3. (T2) https://www.sabona.de/index.php/produkte/kosmetik 4. (T2) https://www.sabona.de/index.php/kontakt-impressum 5. (T2) https://www.sabona.de/index.php/was-sind-naturarzneimittel 9. (T2) https://www.sabona.de/index.php?format=feed&type=rss 10. (T4) https://www.mit-gesundheit.com/unternehmen/ 11. (T4) https://www.medizinfuchs.de/preisvergleich/sabona-bodycreme-75-ml-mit-gesundheit-gmbh-pzn-13232752.html --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-09-30 Please cite with a link to the article URL.