The only real Knirps
The company.
To this day, the Knirps brand continues to have high appeal and desirability. With products that present innovation, design and function in perfect harmony, Knirps continues to make its mark and underscore its entrepreneurial character.
The only real Knirps the company.
The inventor of the foldable umbrella
Hans Haupt found it difficult to carry his walking stick and an umbrella at the same time after a war injury that had not fully healed, so he looked for a solution. The result?
The first umbrella with a collapsible frame - it fit perfectly in his pocket and was always available when it rained!
Given its small size, it was only natural that he referred to it as his little "Knirps" - a "little guy" - and that's where the brand name Knirps comes from, since Knirps means "little guy" in German.
Hans Haupt revolutionized the market in 1928 with his foldable pocket umbrella. The first Knirps was born and an entire industry turned upside down.
In 1928, a company called Bremshey & Co saw great potential for such a product and helped produce the first variants of this innovative pocket umbrella. This was the beginning of a new era and models in different sizes, shapes and colors were developed.
The automatic umbrella, for example, invented by Knirps in 1965, is still in use around the world. At least as popular is the design award-winning Knirps pocket umbrella X1, to date the smallest "brand ambassador" of the internationally successful Knirps brand. In addition to the quality standard at the highest level, which guarantees consistent product quality, the continuous further development of the product range is an important part of the brand philosophy.
In 2012, for example, "Travel Wear," the all-weather clothing for men and women that can be folded into a handy, small format, was introduced, followed in 2013 by the "Oasis" garden umbrella collection, which won the red dot design award 2013. Without Knirps, weather is only half as much fun!
New and innovative materials were used and daring designs were created, many of them setting the standard for umbrellas, such as the first automatic version in 1965 and in 2004 the new Knirps X1, the smallest Knirps ever.