Trigema

Trigema is a German textile and clothing manufacturer whose consumer-facing brand sells sportswear, leisurewear and everyday clothing. Founded in 1919 by brothers Josef and Eugen Mayer, the business began as a knitwear factory in Burladingen. Its name is a contraction of “TRIkotwarenfabriken GEbrüder MAyer,” referring to the Mayer brothers’ knitwear factories. The company is family-owned and headquartered in Burladingen, in the Swabian Alb region of Baden-Württemberg. The brand’s assortment includes clothing for women, men and children. Products presented on its official online shop include T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, trousers, leggings and sweaters, including organic-cotton and recycled-material options. Trigema describes itself as Germany’s largest manufacturer of sportswear and leisurewear. Its stated emphasis is on durable garments, responsible production and manufacturing in Germany; the company says it has made sportswear and leisurewear in Burladingen for more than a century. Trigema reaches customers through its online shop, company retail outlets known as test stores, and other trade and institutional customers. The German-language encyclopedia material describes a multi-channel business that also supplies industrial customers, leisure facilities and the healthcare sector. Its manufacturing history began with knitwear and expanded over time into sports and leisure apparel. A 1967 tennis sponsorship and collection helped establish the company’s polo shirt and sportswear range. The company has remained privately held and family-run. Its official material identifies Wolfgang Grupp as owner and managing director and highlights the company’s local social engagement through the Wolfgang and Elisabeth Grupp Foundation. The brand also uses its long-running advertising character, the trigema monkey Charly, alongside Grupp in its public communications. Trigema remains an active German apparel business, presenting durability, domestic production and a long company history as central parts of its identity.

Trigema traces its origins to October 1919, when brothers Josef and Eugen Mayer bought a disused factory in Burladingen and founded a knitwear business. The official company history gives the original name as knitwear factory Gebr. Mayer. The brothers separated in 1922: Eugen established a separate company, while Josef continued the existing operation as Mechanische Trikotwarenfabrik Gebr. Mayer KG. The business expanded rapidly in the 1920s, adding local branches and production capacity as demand for underwear grew. By 1923 it had more than 100 employees, according to the company’s historical account. The company grew into a large-scale knitwear producer in the following decade. Its expansion included new production buildings and bleaching and dyeing facilities in Burladingen. The period of National Socialist rule forms a significant and difficult part of the company’s history. The supplied German encyclopedia account states that the business participated in the “Adolf-Hitler-Spende der deutschen Wirtschaft,” that Josef Mayer joined the NSDAP in 1937, and that the company acquired the Hermann Levy firm in Hechingen in 1937 through a sale described as forced and connected to Aryanization. It also reports that the company produced clothing for Nazi organizations and the Wehrmacht and used prisoners of war and foreign workers who were compelled to perform forced labor during the war. A 1952 settlement with Alice Levy concerning claims related to the 1937 and 1939 transactions became legally effective in January 1953. After the Second World War, machinery was dismantled and production could resume only on a limited scale from 1946. Business conditions stabilized after the 1948 currency reform. The factory expanded again in the postwar years; the supplied account reports 960 workers in 1952. The company's official timeline records the death of founder Josef Mayer in 1956. In 1967, Trigema signed tennis player Wilhelm Bungert and introduced its first tennis collection, which included its first polo shirt. The company identifies that collection and its related leisurewear as foundational to the sports and leisurewear for which it became known. The business continued as a family-run German manufacturer and adopted the Trigema name, a contraction of “TRIkotwarenfabriken GEbrüder MAyer.” The company’s advertising history describes more than three decades of appearances by its chimpanzee character Charly and notes that owner and managing director Wolfgang Grupp also became a prominent advertising face. Between 1979 and 1997, Trigema sponsored the shirts of 11 clubs in Germany's first and second Bundesliga, according to the company page; it reports that three clubs wore its logo simultaneously in 1988. Trigema marked its centenary in 2019. In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it temporarily redirected part of production to protective face masks, as reported in the supplied German encyclopedia material. Its current official website continues to present the company as family-owned, based in Burladingen, and focused on durable sportswear and leisurewear made in Germany. It also highlights organic cotton, recycled materials and environmental initiatives.

• 2020

  Part of production is temporarily redirected to protective face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

• 2019

  Trigema marks its 100th anniversary

• 1997

  End of the 1979–1997 period of Bundesliga shirt sponsorship cited by Trigema

• 1988

  Trigema reports that three Bundesliga clubs wore its logo at the same time

• 1979

  Beginning of the period in which Trigema says Bundesliga clubs carried its shirt sponsorship

• 1967

  Trigema signs tennis player Wilhelm Bungert and launches its first tennis collection, including its first polo shirt

• 1956

  Founder Josef Mayer dies

• 1953

  A settlement with Alice Levy regarding claims linked to 1937 and 1939 transactions becomes legally effective

• 1937

  The company acquires the Hermann Levy firm in a transaction described in the supplied historical account as forced and connected to Aryanization

• 1923

  The company has more than 100 employees, according to its official history

• 1922

  The Mayer brothers separate; Josef continues the existing business

• 1919

  Josef and Eugen Mayer establish a knitwear factory in Burladingen

A family-owned German apparel manufacturer positioning its sportswear and leisurewear around durability, domestic production and responsible manufacturing.

• Sportswear and leisurewear

  The company's core apparel categories, made in Germany according to its official site.

• T-shirts and polo shirts

  The online shop presents these among its apparel offerings; the company traces its first polo shirt to its 1967 tennis collection.

• Sweatshirts, hoodies and trousers

  Examples of women's and men's products featured on the official online shop.

• Organic-cotton and recycled-material clothing

  Materials and product initiatives highlighted by the company.

• Forced sale of the Hermann Levy firm and wartime forced labor

• Company and Nazi-era involvement described in the supplied history

Read more

• Temporary partial production shift to protective masksOther

1. 1Home page | Online Shoptrigema.de
2. 2history of trigema | trigema- 100% MADE IN GERMANYtrigema.de
3. 3The Wolfang and Elisabeth Grupp Foundation | trigema- 100% MADE IN GERMANYtrigema.de
4. 4trigema Advertising | trigema- 100% MADE IN GERMANYtrigema.de
5. 5Trigemade.wikipedia.org
6. 6Trigemawikidata.org