Dr. Bronner’s are very pleased to announce we opened The Bronner Haus & Museum on the 29th May 2024 in Laupheim, Germany. Celebrating with locals from the town there was an official ribbon cutting ceremony, and a traditional band playing as we switched on the lights that read ALL-ONE – our companies mission from the very start.
The Bronner Haus is the ancestral home of the HeilBronner family, and the place where the family business of soap making began in 1858. Located in the Jewish quarter of Germany, the soap making business was started by the grandfather of our founder Emanuel Bronner.
The house holds so much history, and a story of sadness, as in 1940, Nazis nationalised the family soap factory—and Emanuel’s parents were deported and killed in Auschwitz and Theriesenstadt. Having fled Germany in the 1920s to emigrate to the US, Emauel dropped the ‘Heil’ from his name and founded the company as we know ‘Dr. Bronner’s in 1948. Since then, the business has gone from success to success, and is still run today by Emanuel’s grandchildren David, Michael and Lisa.
The Bronner Haus building was purchased in 2017 by Dr. Bronner’s when Michael Bronner was visiting Laupheim for a speaking event. In a chance encounter at the event, he met the owner of the home, who was so moved upon hearing about the history of the home that she offered to sell it back to the family. Michael and David Bronner then began working with local partners to envision a future for their ancestral home.
The renovation process began in 2022 and involved raising the ceilings and adding 2.1 meters of space to the house. A beautifully designed glass façade and roof have been added to the building, taking inspiration from soap foam – the product that started it all. The new addition to the home has been imprinted with key messages representative of the Dr. Bronner’s brand and company mission.
In addition to the Bronner Haus serving as Dr. Bronner’s official business address in Europe, the Bronner Haus will also host St. Elizabeth Foundation’s “Wohngemeinschaft Emanuel”, a residential home for adults with special needs. Further, a Dr. Bronner’s Museum will be located in the basement of the home, where the Bronner family originally began producing soap.
We’re so excited by this new venture, and hope that if you ever find yourself in the town of Laupheim, you’ll pay us a visit there to see where it all began.
If you want to see the full transformation process take a look at this post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7juefoovdD/?img_index=1
Dr. Bronner’s is a family business committed to honouring the vision of our founder Dr. E.H. Bronner by making socially and environmentally responsible products of the highest quality, and by dedicating our profits to helping make a better world. “All-One!”