Hermann Christian Tobias Krogmann (1797-1866) settled in Hamburg in 1815 as a grocer. He and Carl L. O. Wachsmuth, the younger brother of the company founder become authorized signatorys at Wachsmuth (1786-1885). In 1823 Krogmann married Catharina Dorette Elisabeth Wachsmuth,  the sister of the company founder. In 1824 Carl Wachsmuth and Tobias Krogmann became the
company owners and moved the business to a new location, Große Reichenstraße 45.

In 1831 Tobias Krogmann purchased the sailing ship Mary Ann and founded the shipping company Wachsmuth & Krogmann.

More ships would follow soon. The company‘s own fleet always delivered new goods from the Mediterranean, South America, Southeast Asia, India and the South Seas, and as time passed they opened up more ports in the Baltics and Russia.

Until it ceased its shipping business in 1942, Wachsmuth & Krogmann operated ships under its own name for 111 years.
This made us one of the oldest shipping companies in Hamburg at one time.

On January 1, 1841, the owners decided to convert the company from J. C. Wachsmuth to Wachsmuth & Krogmann. The company was entered in Hamburg‘s first commercial register under this name. Business is booming. Wachsmuth & Krogmann developed into an important food wholesaler.
After Carl Wachsmuth left, Tobias Krogmann became the sole owner of Wachsmuth & Krogmann in 1846.

Wachsmuth & Krogmann continued to expand, taking over the liner service between Hamburg and Calcutta in 1861, investing in two shipyards and founding trading companies in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa in 1870. The trade in copra, cotton, tortoiseshell and coconut oil was flourishing. 1873 expanding towards the Baltics and Russia, founded a commercial bank and even a small branch in St. Petersburg. In 1875 the company specialized in importing paddy rice from Burma and Siam. In 1893 Wachsmuth & Krogmann built two paddle steamers for the Hamburg-Harburger Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft.

From 1913 to 1938, Wachsmuth & Krogmann outsources the import goods business to the specially founded company Honigwaren-Import Ewerwahn & Co. and during this period concentrated on the shipping company, which had grown rapidly.

In 1945 Wachsmuth & Krogmann restarted businesses with few employees in a know location, the Zippelhaus opens again.
In 1962 the company was turned into an oHG and opened an import agency for nuts and dried fruits.
A little bit later, in 1968, imported canned goods arrive. Deli specialties and frozen products were also added.

In 1980 the first non-food products were imported. Wachsmuth & Krogmann expands the non-food business and establishes a branch in Hong Kong. The company keeps growing. Followed by company branches in Shanghai and the USA.

In 1972, Wachsmuth & Krogmann celebrated their 175th anniversary with a steamboat trip along the traditional route of the former
in-house Hamburg-Harburger Steamer Society.

In addition, the foreign trade company Wachsmuth & Krogmann mbH was founded to keep up with the Import business.
Starting with a carpet trade business for an Iranian house.

In 1988 Wachsmuth & Krogmann founded its own branch in Hong Kong, Wachsmuth & Krogmann (Far East) Ltd.,
which has since been lead by our managing director, Bernd Schoefer.

Since we mainly imported from the East Asian region, we founded another office over there. More than 20 Employees travel East Asia every day to, among other things, be informed about the latest products. They also provide us with more efficient quality monitoring on site.
In addition, we are lucky to have Cooperation offices in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.

Dr. Henning Voscherau, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, said:
Wachsmuth & Krogmann (W&K) begins import of colonial goods and spices.
The import of nuts, dried fruits and canned goods still takes a part of the business volume. This is called continuity!

Heart felt congratulations on the 200th anniversary. Even in a tradition-conscious hanseatic city 200 year company anniversaries are extraordinary events – therefore particularly worth celebrating. If a company that has existed for over two centuries market claims, then that speaks for efficient employees and for far-sighted and clever corporate policy.

Wachsmuth & Krogmann combines tradition and innovation in an ideal way. W&K is an efficient foreign trade company with a highly differentiated product range. And despite all the changes that have taken place in the import business, W&K still sees itself as a responsible mediator between producer and consumer.

W&K is heavily involved in the dynamic and growing East Asian business; a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong and representative offices in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia ensure a strong presence. In Hamburg, too, W&K has grown significantly in recent years. Tradition as a foundation, innovation as a strength – these are good prerequisites for being able to hold one’s own in the future as well. I wish Wachsmuth & Krogmann continued success for the next 200 years.

In 2020, W&K expanded its location in the heart of Hamburg (Lange Mühren 1). For this purpose, a vacant office area was completely expanded, renovated and made ready for the employees. This expansion allowed the workplaces to be reorganised and structured. The new office space of approx. 1,200m ² provided plenty of new space for the current 75 employees.

225 years ago, on 15 September 1797, Johann Christian Wachsmuth (1773-1820) founded the company J.C. Wachsmuth and settled in Steinstraße.  He started his business with olive oil, almonds, figs, candied peel, allspice, corks, onions and many other specialities.

After a short time, Wachsmuth’s business was one of the largest colonial goods stores in Hamburg.

The ‘Zippelhaus’ was the headquarters of Wachsmuth and Krogmann (from 1841) for many years and will become the Sprinkenhof next year.

After many wonderful years on the upper floors above the former Galleria Kaufhof, we moved.
The Sprinkenhof has a lot to offer and is part of Hamburg’s cultural history.
We are happy to have arrived in this historic building.