The foundations for the Dauphin company were laid in 1968. At the time, founder and owner Friedrich-Wilhelm Dauphin was providing business consultancy services to the English office chair manufacturer Evertaut. He carried out a market analysis into the prospects and opportunities for Evertaut’s German subsidiary (Norf near Düsseldorf). Although Dauphin concluded that the company had a promising future, his client Evertaut was not convinced. Dauphin therefore made a spur-of-the-moment decision and bought the company’s German operations himself. That same year, he started importing and distributing Evertaut chairs under the company name “Evertaut International”. Two years later, the company was renamed “Friedrich-W. Dauphin, Alleinimporteur Evertaut International”.

After a short spell in Oberroden near Frankfurt (production), the company’s head office was moved to Offenhausen in 1973. It was in this small village between Altdorf and Hersbruck near Nuremberg that he built his first plant. The original plant was then extended over the course of the years.

As part of efforts to establish the company’s own value added chain, two additional production sites for seat mechanisms and upholstery were set up in the 80s and 90s. Established in 1993, Dauphin Components manufactures mainly mechanisms for seating and other components in Pößneck, Thuringia. Artifex Büromöbel GmbH is a competent supplier of upholstery for all of the Dauphin Group companies. The company’s headquarters are in Neukirchen bei Sulzbach-Rosenberg. The company also has a branch in Günzburg. Both supply companies are 100% owned by the holding company and cover on a value basis approximately 50% of total procurement volume.

With headquarters in Hersbruck, Dauphin Entwicklungs- und Beteiligungs GmbH focuses on research and development projects. The designs are produced by the design team, sometimes working together with external designers. At the moment Dauphin holds over 73 utility models and patent applications throughout the world. The company has also lodged another 175 applications for aesthetic models and design patents as well as 118 trademark applications.

The family business has been under the umbrella of the “Dauphin office interiors GmbH & Co. KG” holding company since 1992. In addition to the Dauphin brand, two further chair firms came under the control of the holding company in the 90s: Trendoffice (formerly based in Günzburg) and Züco Bürositzmöbel AG based in Rebstein, Switzerland. With three independent brands, the Dauphin Group is firmly established in the facility seating market.

Züco is a traditional manufacturer of furniture for public areas. Bold design, the most exclusive materials and hand-made Swiss quality are what make its chair and table ranges so successful.
And the Office chairs of Trendoffice reflect an uncomplicated lifestyle. Fresh ideas, design freedom and creative materials result in value-for-money products which are ideal for use in modern, cheerful office environments.

Acquisition of Bosse: Likewise in 1992, the group once again tapped into the market for room structuring systems through its subsidiary Bosse Design based in Höxter. Thanks to Bosse, a specialist for versatile room dividing systems for use in conjunction with mobile storage and workstation solutions, Dauphin Holding has since established itself as a competent provider of complete office solutions. Following its takeover of the modular furniture manufacturer MRD in spring 2002, the company further expanded its range of products in this segment by adding the versatile “modul space” office furniture programme. This opens infinite combinations according to the motto: one idea. 1000 possibilites.

In 1999, nearly 15 years ago, the Dauphins became aware of the “Mere Rust” wine farm in the Franschhoeck Valley during one of their countless business trips to South Africa. After careful consideration, they bought the farm (to this day approx. 135 ha after land acquisition) and renamed it Allée Bleue, i.e. “blue alley”. The name refers to the driveway leading to the farm which is lined by blue eucalyptus trees.

The Allée Bleue Pinotage red wine won double gold at its first ever competition (Veritas Award 2002, South Africa): 2001 Pinotage “Allée Bleue”, with powerful aroma. This was to be the first of many awards. Fruit, herbs and olives are also grown and successfully marketed.

“Allée Bleue Estate” is more than just a vineyard. The romantic backdrop is also the ideal setting for wedding receptions for example. Up to two weddings are celebrated there virtually every weekend of the year. In addition to the large banquet/ball room known as “Le Grand Hall” (approx. 400 people), the Allée Bleue Bistro and the Boutique Hotel which is currently under construction, there are two high-tech conference rooms. Allée Bleue therefore offers a stylish backdrop not only for private celebrations such as weddings or birthdays but also for sophisticated business events such as meetings, seminars and conferences.

In autumn 2002, the Offenhausen-based company bundled together the sales, marketing and consultancy expertise of its Bosse, Trendoffice and Züco subsidiaries to form the Dauphin HumanDesign® Group (DHDG). This has ensured that the group can operate according to its holistic HumanDesign® philosophy and offer complete solutions for the entire office and facility sector.

The high-quality chair programmes from Dauphin and Züco, the dynamic, trendy range of seating from Trendoffice, and the modern, well-thought-out room-design and office-furniture systems from Bosse are at the centre of the DHDG’s activities. The result is a configurable complete range of furniture for creating contemporary, user-oriented and systematic office landscapes. After all, a workplace is not a collection of individual parts – it must form a harmonious unit. The Dauphin HumanDesign® Group aims to offer products and solutions that achieve this objective.

As part of brand consolidation to form the Dauphin HumanDesign® Group, chair production for the Trendoffice brand was moved from Günzburg to the main Offenhausen plant on 01.01.2004. Since then, the Günzburg plant has served as an additional production site for the Artifex Büromöbel GmbH upholstery company, another subsidiary of Dauphin Holding.

In addition to the furniture business, there is a truly unique event hall in Hersbruck. Established in 2004, it combines a vintage car museum and an exclusive event location.

The Dauphin Speed Event was created from a converted factory hall. Covering an area of just under 18,000 square metres, it offers a stylish, dynamic atmosphere for all types of event. Meetings, seminars and conferences as well as birthday and wedding parties take place in the midst of approximately 160 time-honoured vintage cars and over 240 nostalgic motorcycles belonging to the Dauphin family. During breaks, guests can relax in the cafeteria, enjoy the outdoor facilities or stroll around the collection of vintage vehicles.

For Friedrich-W. Dauphin and his wife Elke who died in 2016, the collection is a dream come true – a dream they have pursued with a special passion for around 30 years now. With their private collection, the Dauphin family would like to help young people discover vintage cars and nostalgic motorcycles. They hope to share this passion and pass on the “vintage car bug” to future generations.

The underlying idea behind the collection is to give visitors an insight not only into the development of automobile and motorcycle technology but also design, with a focus on specific marques. Dauphin Speed Event is used as a marketing tool and is fully integrated into the company’s activities.

To complement its office and facility business, the Dauphin Group entered the home furniture market in 2010. Selected and new designed product ranges have been developed which are manufactured by Bosse and Züco. The new home furniture brand was first unveiled at the imm cologne 2010. Under the “Dauphin Home®” brand name, the DHDG now offers timelessly modern, versatile yet unobtrusive home furniture which caters for all needs. A key feature of the home collection is the combination of chrome, wood and lacquered surfaces as well as carefully coordinated designs, colours and materials.

All of the DHDG's subsidiaries maintain the same consistently high quality standards. Synergy effects, focusing on and complying with international standards, and a business policy which is geared towards ethics, sustainability and environmental protection are of the highest order at the Dauphin HumanDesign® Group.

With 23 sales and production companies in Germany and abroad as well as numerous licensees and representatives in 81 countries, the Dauphin Group is one of the leading manufacturers of office furniture in the European region. The company has 743 members of staff across the world and achieved a consolidated turnover of 138.4 million euros in 2016. On average, 2,000 chairs per day are produced at the group’s production facilities around the world. Around 1,500 of these are produced in Offenhausen alone.

Having set up its own sales companies in Australia, Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, Dauphin has established an international presence. Numerous other countries are covered either by local licensees or country representatives (distributors).

In addition to the production sites in Germany, the company also operates its own production facilities in the USA and Switzerland. Fully owned by the holding company, they manufacture a range of selected products. The group also holds a stake in a licensee in South Africa.

Dauphin has a traditionally strong position in Germany. Exports account for around 27.4 percent of consolidated total turnover (2016). As part of a deliberate policy of internationalisation, the group is further consolidating the international position of its various brands in European countries and overseas.

Since July 2018, a strong team of four managing directors has taken over responsibility for the Dauphin Group and will be leading it into a successful future.

Dr. Jochen Ihring is the spokesman for the new team. He is managing director of the sales subsidiary Dauphin HumanDesign Group GmbH & Co. KG, Dauphin office interiors Holding and the Dauphin development and holding company. In this role, Dr. Jochen Ihring is responsible for all innovation processes, marketing and product management, strategic purchasing and for the USA and South Africa markets.

As the managing director of the Dauphin HumanDesign Group, Stefan Scheurer is responsible for managing the global distribution of all brands, including the European subsidiaries. 

Since April 2018, Dr. Rolf Hallstein has been the managing director of Bürositzmöbelfabrik Friedrich-W. Dauphin GmbH & Co., where he is responsible for production and logistics, including supply chains.

As the commercial director of the holding company, Christoph Schülner is responsible for overseeing the corporate group’s entire finance and accounting activities, as well as for the Reporting, Controlling, IT and Human Resources departments.

“I very much look forward to working with the new management team and to performing my role as Chairman of the Shareholder Committee which, as well as my daughter Antje Dauphin, also includes my grandchildren Jil and Julien Dauphin as fellow shareholders,” says company founder Friedrich-Wilhelm Dauphin.