Steigerwald  - Nature is our Base

The Steigerwald Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. was founded in the year 1951 by Karl Megerle in Kitzingen in Steigerwald as a company specialising in homeopathic medicines. Even in the year of its founding, Steigerwald marketed a range of medicines consisting of more than 80 preparations which were systematically developed and optimised in the subsequent decades. The motto of the company from the very beginning is "nature is our base".

In 1956, Steigerwald moved in to modern company premises in Darmstadt which have remained to the present day as the headquarters of the company.

From the very beginning, the excellent reputation of Steigerwald Pharmaceuticals was based on modern manufacturing procedures and high quality standards to which Steigerwald is always committed.

Milestones of Phytotherapy

The company increasingly concentrated its efforts on herbal medicines in the sixties. It has decisively participated in the development of present-day rational, scientifically founded phytotherapy in its own research laboratories as well as in co-operation with renowned university and non-university research institutes at home and abroad.

Iberogast^®, a herbal medicine for the therapy of upset stomach (NUD), was introduced to the market in 1960. Nowadays, it constitutes one of the most successful, well-studied and scientifically documented herbal medicines.

A particular interest of Steigerwald for more than 40 years is the research on efficacy-determining constituents and actions of St. John's wort. The first research report on this herbal remedy appeared as long ago as 1960 from the Scientific Department of Steigerwald. In the following years, the herbal medicine Psychotonin^® was developed from this work and it belongs world-wide to the first St. John's wort preparations for the therapy of depressive moods.

Further optimised St. John's wort preparations arose based on the pioneering contributions to the demonstration of efficacy and safety.  A new chapter in this success story was opened in 1998 by Laif^® 600, the first St. John's wort preparation involving a single dosage. This success story finds a new climax with the introduction in the year 2002 of the product Laif^® 900, i.e. a new standard is set for therapy with St. John's wort involving 900 mg of a St. John's wort extract in one tablet.

A further visible result from the research laboratories of Steigerwald Pharmaceuticals is a herbal medicine for the therapy of rheumatic complaints, Phytodolor^®. The good efficacy and tolerability was demonstrated in numerous clinical and pharmacological investigations.

The Human Being at the Forefront

Since the founding of the company, the information of the physician and therapist is one of the main concerns of Steigerwald which immediately provides current research results for the therapeutic practice.

In 1995, the ProPhyto initiative was called into being to also support the pharmacist in his endeavours to advise the customer about herbal medicines. Steigerwald is an esteemed and successful partner of the pharmacist nowadays helping him in the self-medication market to supply scientifically proven herbal medicines.

Steigerwald, as one of the first companies in the field of herbal medicines, has recognised and exploited the potential of the Internet for providing health care information. Even since 1996, Steigerwald provides a growing spectrum of information on herbal medicines under the addresses www.steigerwald.de and www.prophyto.de . At the beginning of 2002, the Internet portal is being radically redesigned in order to provide the physician, pharmacist and patient with the best technical means to find the desired information.

The human being, who is shouldered with more responsibility for his own health in interaction with the physician and pharmacist, also remains at the centre of the activities of Steigerwald in the 21st century. Steigerwald provides him with tried and trusted and new herbal medicines representing the current state of scientific research.