Your sustainable outdoor outfitter from Upper Swabia
[fau ` de:] -- is the German pronunciation of the initials of the company founder’s last name, Albrecht von Dewitz, who founded the company in 1974 in an old hops barn. The company is 100% family owned, now in the second generation of the von Dewitz family – see "Antje von Dewitz at the summit".
VAUDE Sport GmbH & Co. KG develops, produces and sells outdoor gear under the VAUDE brand: functional outdoor apparel, backpacks and bags, sleeping bags, tents, footwear, camping accessories.
The VAUDE brand and its products stand for mountain and bike sports expertise, innovation, and social and environmental responsibility. Our vision is to create a higher quality of life through sustainable and innovative outdoor products and forward-looking business practices.
Our employees are our most important resource
VAUDE’s headquarters are located in Obereisenbach, a village in sunny southern Germany close to the bordering countries of Austria and Switzerland. With a view of the Alps and Lake Constance, VAUDE employees work for the “Spirit of Mountain Sports” – see also "The VAUDE-Team".
Our headquarters are in Obereisenbach near Tettnang
VAUDE has three primary locations: the headquarters in Tettnang/Obereisenbach with various buildings as well as one sales office each in Spain and Switzerland.
In addition, there are two factory outlets - one in Metzingen and one in Wadgassen - and various leased order rooms nationwide. The figures in this report are based exclusively on the company headquarters. Our production facility, the Manufaktur, and our Upcycling Workshop are located at our headquarters in Tettnang-Obereisenbach. More at Made in Germany.
The VAUDE company premises are located in sunny southern Germany near Lake Constance.
You can read more about our buildings and our working environment here
International subsidiaries and offices
Subsidiaries (joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries) include another sales office in Spain, VAUDE Franchise GmbH and our teams in Vietnam and China. One employee is employed by us through the Chamber of Foreign Trade in Taiwan. The office in Shanghai was closed in 2017. The production site in China was sold to the previous co-partner in 2014, and production for VAUDE will no longer take place there.
Product development in Tettnang
The development of the entire collection takes place in Tettnang-Obereisenbach, including initial ideas for products, evaluation of materials in our own testing laboratory, prototypes and finished engineering.
Our materials are rigorously tested at our on-site Test Center.
The entire administration department is also located here: in addition to management, you’ll find finances and accounting, human resources, marketing, IT and of course, the CSR Team (more at Interdisciplinary CSR Team). All domestic and international product sales are controlled by Tettnang-Obereisenbach. You can read more about our markets here
The headquarters includes product services, with a strong repair service to repair used products. More about it here
Global supply chain
One of our most important suppliers is VAUDE Vietnam. This production facility was founded established in 2008 by VAUDE founder Albrecht von Dewitz. This company, which is owned by Albrecht von Dewitz and also produces for other companies, does not belong to VAUDE Sport GmbH & Co. KG and is therefore not included in the report. The production site is included in the supply chain data.
In 2020, VAUDE produced 3,054,946 products. About 6 percent of VAUDE products are manufactured at the Manufaktur in Tettnang-Obereisenbach. About 29 percent at VAUDE Vietnam. All other products are manufactured on behalf of VAUDE by independent suppliers in Europe and Asia.
More about the supply chain here
Headquarters are EMAS and ISO 14001 certified
Central logistics is also located in Obereisenbach. Products for the European market are delivered here, inspected, warehoused, commissioned and shipped to retailers – see also "Emissions compensation". North America and Asia are supplied directly from the producer to the sales partner in each respective country.
The entire headquarters in Tettnang-Obereisenbach has environmental certification in accordance with EMAS and ISO 14001. This applies to the production of waterproof bike bags and backpacks in Obereisenbach. The Obereisenbach location is located in a mixed-use zone.
Climate neutral production in the Manufaktur in Obereisenbach.
Organic canteen, VAUDE Café and VAUDE Kinderhaus
Since April 2015 VAUDE has had its own organic canteen where employees can enjoy a healthy breakfast, lunch and snacks. A few meters away from the administration building is one of our three factory outlets, which also houses the organically certified VAUDE Café.
In addition, Obereisenbach is home to the VAUDE Kinderhaus Childcare Center, which is supported by the city of Tettnang and cares for up to 31 children.
The public outdoor swimming pool Obereisenbach which was saved from closure by VAUDE together with the swimming pool association and has been operated as a tenant ever since - see “Creating added value through commitment”.
Since 2020, VAUDE has been enriched by the VAUDE Academy for Sustainable Business. It was founded to provide support on the path to sustainable transformation. The Academy program includes lectures, workshops as well as individual consultations and is aimed at companies, professional networks and organizations as well as universities, non-profit associations and initiatives. The development of the VAUDE Academy has been supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) with funding for two years since May 2020.
